{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/padilla-california-leaders-sound-alarm-as-trump-administration-cuts-billions-in-federal-funding/", "Padilla, California Leaders Sound Alarm as Trump Administration Cuts Billions in Federal Funding", "2026-08-18", "2026", "2026-08", "Democrat", "Senate", "CA", "Alex Padilla", "P000145", "www.padilla.senate.gov", "padilla", "https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/", "scraper", "SACRAMENTO, CA \u2014 As the Trump Administration moves to slash federal funding and rewrite longstanding grant programs, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) convened California leaders to sound the alarm about the consequences for communities across the state. The roundtable included a discussion among leaders from California universities, nonprofits, childcare, food banks, immigrant-serving organizations, and philanthropy.\n\nIn California alone, the Trump Administration has cancelled $7.6 billion in clean energy funding, withdrawn nearly $2 billion in research funding, and continues to withhold overdue disaster relief funding for communities impacted by wildfires. New changes to federal grantmaking and regulations could put even more funding \u2014 and the essential services that depend on it \u2014 at risk.\n\n\u201cThe Trump Administration is ripping away billions of dollars that California communities rely on to keep people safe, housed, fed and healthy,\u201d said Senator Padilla. \u201cThese are not abstract budget numbers. It means childcare providers struggling to stay open, food banks facing greater demand, researchers losing support, and disaster survivors waiting for the resources they need to rebuild. I\u2019m grateful to the leaders on the front lines who are fighting back, and I will continue doing my part in Congress to protect the critical programs that Californians depend on.\u201d\n\nPadilla\u2019s roundtable featured a discussion about how interruptions or restrictions in federal funding could impact basic needs, public education, housing, healthcare, childcare, and immigrant and marginalized communities. The roundtable also highlighted the need for continued coordination and preparedness as organizations navigate an increasingly uncertain federal funding environment. Padilla and California leaders emphasized the importance of collaboration among philanthropy, nonprofits, public institutions, and government to keep essential services running and protect vulnerable communities.\n\nIn addition to Padilla, the roundtable featured remarks from the Chancellor of UC Davis Gary S. May, CEO of CalNonprofits Geoff Green, CEO of California Alliance of Child and Family Services Pete Weldy, President of Child Care Resource Center Donna Sneeringer, Executive Director of CalCAPA David Knight, Executive Director of California Immigrant Policy Center Masih Fouladi, Executive Director of Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) Angelica Salas, CEO of League of California Community Foundations Laura Seaman, and Director of Public Policy and Advocacy of California Food Banks Jared Call.\n\n\u201cThe University of California urges Congress to provide a legislative fix that would prevent OMB\u2019s detrimental changes to the Uniform Guidance from going into effect,\u201d said UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May. \u201cThis fix would protect the merit-based research process that has allowed UC and the nation to lead the world in innovation.\u201d\n\n\u201cCalifornia\u2019s nonprofit sector is central to our state\u2019s social, economic, and environmental well-being,\u201d said Geoff Green, CEO of CalNonprofits. \u201cAt $450 billion in annual revenue, 110,000 organizations strong, and the third largest private employer, California\u2019s nonprofits serve every community across the state. Working arm in arm with our public and private sector partners, we stand as a bulwark against federal attacks on our state\u2019s people and values, and call on our elected representatives at all levels to defend the golden state\u2019s 40 million residents.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe vulnerable families served by California\u2019s community-based nonprofits are hanging on by a thread \u2014 and that thread is Medi-Cal. Cut a parent off from care, and kids get hurt too,\u201d said Pete Weldy, CEO of California Alliance of Child and Family Services.\u201cCA Alliance members thank Senator Padilla for fighting to protect the coverage our families \u2013 and our future \u2013 depend on.\u201d\n\n\u201cStable and reliable child care is critical to the well-being of our young children, their families and employers,\u201d said Donna Sneeringer, President of Child Care Resource Center. \u201cRepeated disruptions or threats to the funding that provides these services creates repeated stress and fear in our communities.\u201d\n\n\u201cCalCAPA represents California\u2019s Community Action Network, operating federally funded opportunities, including the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG), to help American families build toward economic mobility,\u201d said David Knight, Executive Director of CalCAPA. \u201cWhen final budgets get held up, OMB creates funding holds, leading to stalled programs, staff lay offs, and families paying for Washington\u2019s delays.\u201d\n\n\u201cEvery dollar the federal government spends is a choice \u2014 and right now, it\u2019s choosing detention and intimidation over health care, food, due process, and the nonprofits standing with immigrant communities,\u201d said Masih Fouladi, Executive Director of the California Immigrant Policy Center. \u201cWe are grateful to Senator Padilla for his consistent leadership in defending immigrant families and his efforts to advance the right to legal representation for people facing deportation. Together, we must protect California\u2019s safety net, sustain immigration legal services, defend the lawful work of community organizations, and ensure public dollars support families and due process, not detention and family separation.\u201d\n\n\u201cCHIRLA is grateful for Senator Padilla\u2019s leadership to ensure that all Californians have access to federal funding for basic needs and to address ongoing crises, including fires, and immigration enforcement. We know that budgets reflect our collective values. It\u2019s unacceptable that billions of dollars are invested in agencies meant to harm the most vulnerable. That\u2019s why we must fight to represent the most vulnerable while ensuring that due process is preserved for the countless families facing multiple crises at home, including food insecurity, natural disasters, arrests and detention, and family separation. We\u2019re proud to be fighting alongside a true champion for California residents and values,\u201d stated Angelica Salas, Executive Director, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA).\n\n\u201cCalifornians prove every day what\u2019s possible when local generosity rises to meet a crisis, but the altruism of neighbors was never meant to replace federal investment in resilience, and it can\u2019t,\u201d said Laura Seaman, CEO of League of California Community Foundations. \u201cAs Washington considers even deeper cuts to the programs and infrastructure that keep Californians safe from all kinds of disasters and crises, we thank Senator Padilla and his colleagues for recognizing that while local communities can prepare for and respond to a crisis, only sustained federal investment can prevent the next one. Philanthropy and nonprofits are ready to partner with Senator Padilla and his colleagues in that work.\u201d\n\n\u201cCalifornia Food Banks\u2122 thanks Senator Padilla for his strong leadership on anti-hunger issues and standing with Californians who are trying to make ends meet,\u201d said Stacia Levenfeld, CEO of California Food Banks. \u201cWe urge Senator Padilla and all members of the California delegation to stand firm in their commitment to aid farmers, and also support families who need help putting food on the table.\u201d\n\nLast week, Padilla joined his Senate colleagues in demanding the Trump Administration stop delaying Federal Transit Administration funding for public transportation projects. In July, Padilla blasted the Trump Administration for Trump\u2019s supplemental funding request that did not include disaster aid funding for communities to rebuild and recover following natural disasters across the country.\n\n###", 1, "2026-08-19T05:29:02Z", "2026-08-19T05:30:24Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/padilla-california-leaders-sound-alarm-as-trump-administration-cuts-billions-in-federal-funding/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7506021540611982, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}