Republican legislators in New York are rallying to reverse a clause in the state’s $229 billion budget that transferred $1 billion of Medicaid funding away from county governments.
The controversial move has spurred concerns among county leaders, who caution that the loss of federal medical assistance percentage funds may necessitate property tax increases to fill the funding gap.
State Sen. Mark Walczyk is leading the effort to retract the budget provision, arguing that the shift of Medicaid responsibility onto property taxpayers is unfair.
He emphasized that the seven counties of the 49th Senate District understand the magnitude of the funding loss, which exceeds $1.5 million for all but two counties in his district.
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