NEW YORK (July 1, 2025) – FPWA is deeply dismayed by the Senate’s narrow passage of a federal budget reconciliation bill which stands to make the vast majority of Americans more vulnerable while delivering significant tax cuts to the wealthiest. Deep reductions in federal support for Medicaid, SNAP, and state and local aid are particularly alarming for New York, where over 1.6 million people rely on Medicaid and 2.8 million receive SNAP. The SNAP reductions could cost the State an estimated $1.35 billion annually and the Medicaid changes threaten healthcare for over one million New Yorkers. Together, these will likely trigger cascading impacts across state and local budgets. Funding rollbacks are a particularly high risk for New York City’s chronically underfunded human service sector, which has already lost over $2 billion in federal and state aid this fiscal year. Meanwhile, federal tax cuts promise little relief for the majority, with sixty percent of the benefits going to the top 20 percent of households and more than one-third to those making $460,000 or more. In doing so, this budget puts economic security out-of-reach for an ever-expanding portion of New Yorkers.
FPWA will continue to monitor how these cuts will impact New Yorkers and the human service agencies that rely on public funding, knowing that the full extent of these cuts will only be felt over time.
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The Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies (FPWA) is a leading anti-poverty, social policy and advocacy organization dedicated to strengthening human services organizations and faith institutions and advancing economic opportunity and justice for New Yorkers with low incomes. Since 1922, FPWA has driven groundbreaking policy reforms to better serve those in need. We work to dismantle the structural and systemic barriers that impede economic security and well-being, and we strengthen the capacity of human services agencies and faith organizations so New Yorkers with lower incomes can thrive and live with dignity.
