At the annual fall meeting of the New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC) in Niagara Falls, NY, county officials called on state leaders to provide additional financial and administrative support as counties prepare to implement sweeping changes to Medicaid and SNAP programs under the newly enacted One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).

The federal law, signed on July 4, shifts significant fiscal and administrative responsibilities to states and counties—particularly in the areas of health care and nutrition. With $1.3 billion in projected new costs for counties statewide, local leaders emphasized the urgency of a strong state partnership to manage the transition without undermining public services or raising property taxes.

“Counties are on the frontlines of delivering Medicaid and SNAP services, and we’re committed to doing so as efficiently as possible, but we can’t manage this federal overhaul alone,” said Phil Church, NYSAC president. “We need our partners at the state to provide real support—not just to protect county budgets, but to protect the New Yorkers who depend on these essential programs.”

The new requirements laid out in the OBBBA will force counties to adhere to much stricter program integrity efforts, including tighter eligibility parameters, more frequent verification of eligibility, and enhanced work requirements. 

The federal changes to SNAP and Medicaid will require an expanded local workforce, IT streamlining and additional training to ensure that local institutions maximize their efficiencies and are able to avoid federally imposed financial penalties.

“Counties are being asked to overhaul their eligibility systems, hire and train hundreds of new staff, and modernize outdated technology—all at once,” said Stephen Acquario, NYSAC executive director. “We’re already facing workforce shortages in social services. Without strong support from the state to build capacity and streamline these systems, the new federal mandates will overwhelm local governments and disrupt services that New Yorkers rely on every day.”

NYSAC is urging the governor, the state legislature, the Office of Temporary Disability Assistance and the Department of Health to provide additional financial assistance and administrative support to comply with the new federal Medicaid and SNAP standards.

Both counties and the state have struggled with recruiting and maintaining enough trained staff to support social services enrollment, as well as eligibility and program integrity efforts prior to the changes mandated in the OBBBA. Because of this, counties are seeking to work with the state to develop more streamlined and centralized IT systems that can reduce the need for additional staff as much as possible, and implement special incentive programs to attract additional staff who need to be hired.

New York State Association of Counties
Albany, NY