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What are the federal contributions to CA besides Medicaid?
Executive summary
Federal funds flowing to California extend far beyond Medicaid (Medi‑Cal). The enacted 2025–26 state budget includes almost $175 billion in federal funds, of which $119.3 billion is budgeted for Medi‑Cal — leaving roughly $55–56 billion flowing through the state budget to other programs, plus additional federal dollars sent directly to local governments and agencies (total transfers were about $161.7 billion in FY2022 per USAFacts) [1] [2]. Reporting and budget analyses show major non‑Medi‑Cal federal contributions for education, TANF/CalWORKs, housing, infrastructure, and targeted grants; exact totals vary by dataset and year [3] [4] [5].
1. What the headline numbers mean: “Almost $175 billion” — and Medi‑Cal’s share
The California Budget & Policy Center says the enacted 2025–26 state budget includes almost $175 billion in federal funds that flow through the state budget; about $136.6 billion of those federal dollars support health and human services and $119.3 billion is budgeted through the Department of Health Care Services for Medi‑Cal — making Medi‑Cal by far the single largest item that federal money funds through the state budget [1].
2. Other big buckets inside the state budget: education, human services, housing
Beyond Medi‑Cal, the Budget Center and Legislative Analyst materials identify other sizable federal streams flowing through the state budget: federal K–12 and higher education aid (California K–12 schools received about $8 billion in 2024–25 per LAO/Legislative Analyst data cited by EdSource and PPIC), federal TANF block grant funding (about $3.7 billion annually, over $2 billion going to CalWORKs), and various housing and human services grants that support child welfare, foster care, and safety‑net programs [3] [4] [5] [1].
3. Federal dollars that bypass the state budget: direct grants and local flows
Not all federal money “flows through” Sacramento. USAFacts and USASpending show substantial federal transfers and contract dollars sent directly to local governments, school districts, and agencies — USAFacts reported about $161.7 billion in FY2022 in federal transfers to California state and local governments, a figure that includes money both routed through the state budget and money sent directly to local entities [2] [6]. Those direct flows account for education, infrastructure, federal workforce and defense contracts, and targeted grants.
4. Examples of notable non‑Medi‑Cal federal programs and their scale
- K–12 federal aid: Roughly $8 billion to California K–12 in 2024–25, about 6% of total K–12 funding statewide (EdSource citing Legislative Analyst’s Office) [3].
- TANF/CalWORKs: California receives $3.7 billion per year in the federal TANF block grant; over $2 billion funds CalWORKs cash assistance (LAO) [4].
- School funding overall: State, local, and federal K–12 funding reached about $142.4 billion in 2024–25, with the federal share embedded within that total (PPIC) [5].
5. Why totals differ across sources — and political framing to watch
Different sources report different totals because some count only federal funds passing through the state budget (Budget Center’s ~$175B), others add direct federal transfers to local governments and contracts (USAFacts’ ~$161.7B for FY2022 or USASpending totals), and advocacy groups frame figures against federal tax payments (Budget Center’s donor‑state analysis that California pays $83 billion more in federal taxes than it receives) [1] [2] [7]. Stakeholders use these differing baselines to make budget and political arguments: deficit warnings, claims about being a “donor state,” or warnings about federal cuts.
6. Recent political disputes and litigation over federal funding
Political conflict over federal actions and funding allocations appears in state communications: the Governor’s office highlights litigation that it says preserved at least $168 billion in federal funding after disputes with the federal administration — framing the lawsuits as preserving state resources — though this comes from a political statement and should be read as advocacy explaining successful legal outcomes rather than neutral accounting [8].
7. What’s missing or uncertain in the reporting
Available sources do not provide a single reconciled, line‑by‑line fiscal table in this set that breaks every federal program and dollar out of the ~$175B or the USAFacts total; nor do they reconcile differences between funds that “flow through” the state budget and federal funds sent directly to local entities in one unified accounting [1] [2]. For a precise program‑by‑program breakout, USASpending or the state’s detailed budget appendices (not included here) would be needed.
8. Bottom line for readers
Federal contributions to California extend well beyond Medi‑Cal, funding education, TANF/CalWORKs, housing programs, direct local grants, infrastructure and many targeted initiatives. Medi‑Cal dominates the federal share routed through the state budget, but substantial federal dollars also go directly to local governments and specific programs; interpreting totals requires careful attention to whether a source counts only dollars routed through Sacramento or all federal transfers and contracts [1] [2] [3].