San Francisco Bay Area communities are beginning to see how President Trump's recently passed "Big Beautiful Bill" will impact health care and food assistance programs.

In Santa Clara County, 30% of the county's budget is funded federally to cover a wide range of medical and social services. The county estimates it will lose about $1 billion right off the bat.

Betty Duong is one of the newcomers on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. She never imagined that six months into the job, the county would be facing a huge shortfall that would put residents' health care and food assistance programs at risk.

"This is unacceptable," said Supervisor Duong. "This is not where we balance the budget. Not on the lives of the innocent. Not at the cost of generations to come because we're going to allow 450,000 people in Santa Clara county and 14 million nationwide to be pushed off a healthcare cliff."

Duong is the first Asian American woman to serve on the board in Santa Clara County. Her family immigrated to the United States after the Vietnam War and lived in Section 8 housing before moving to the Eastside.

"Like so many Americans, we took that opportunity to build a new life for ourselves, to anchor ourselves here in our new home," she said.

Duong's rich and diverse heritage gives her a unique perspective on how the federal funding cuts will impact the immigrant community in the South Bay. She heard from community members who are scared of what's to come.

Kaitlyn Madrigal joined an organization called Latinos Contra Cancer to fight back against the cuts and to fight for her family's health care.

"We are of lower socioeconomic status," said Madrigal. "We are an immigrant family, and all of these cuts raise a lot of concerns for my family."

A big challenge for Santa Clara County is how to preserve its public hospital system. It's the second-largest in the state, and 70% of its funding comes from the federal government through Medicare and Medicaid. County Financial Executive James Williams says the public hospitals represent 50% of trauma and burn centers in the state and are a training ground for doctors.

"That really special role that the 6% of hospitals play have to be preserved and protected," said Williams. "The state can do that even though we all recognize that the state cannot make up for all the federal revenue."

While the cuts are not expected to come until next year, the county says the impacts will be felt right away. Elected leaders at every level will have to get creative to make sure residents don't go without the vital services they need.

"We're going to have to cut services in other parts of the county to make sure our emergency departments stay open, beds remain available and people who need care continue to receive care," said Supervisor Duong.

• Santa Clara County