With the Trump administration threatening to cut its budget significantly and cancel nonprofits’ tax-free status, the social justice organizations in Southern California have become defensively supple, hoping to wait for the storms that pass.
They are not openly fighting President Trump’s program cuts. Some have scrubbed websites with conditions such as “equity”, “inclusion”, and “trans.” Others are said to have to drop the acknowledgement of the land – a declaration paying homage to the First Nations, the area’s first human inhabitants.
However, other local nonprofits are planning to fight. They are condemning Trump’s policies. They rejected any proposals to change their mission statement. They went to court. And for one, it’s launching a campaign to call on Congressional Republicans who believe that the health of the huge St. John’s community, which has been providing care to the local working class and immigrants for 60 years, is enabling Trump’s budget cuts, which they believe will cripple health for the poor.
The venerable South Los Angeles-based clinic system joined around 10 other nonprofits on Thursday to launch a media campaign focused on half a dozen US home districts where Republican lawmakers support the president’s initial budget plan.
The newly created campaign by the Health Justice Action Fund promotes the theme of “Medicaid Matters To Me.” The organization plans to spend $2 million in the coming weeks to focus petitions, telephone banks, social media and radio ads on six GOP lawmakers across the country, noting that it is not supporting cutting major federal health programs for the poor and disabled.
The Republican-controlled House and Senate have approved a Trump budget framework that calls for a $880 billion cut from businesses overseen by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Trump and other Republicans have argued that there is no need to cut Medicaid. However, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says that desirable savings can only be achieved by reducing Medicaid.
The new campaign to decline these cuts was organized by Los Angeles-based St. John’s Health and its president and CEO Jim Manzia.
“The Medicaid cuts proposed by Republicans and President Trump will be devastating for the health of low-income households across the United States,” Manzia, who has led St. John’s for a quarter-century, said in an interview. “There are tens of millions of people in California who rely on Medicaid and are dependent on basic medical health care.
Manzia and his board of directors said they understand that a vast medical institution with more than 20 locations in Southern California could aim to call on the president and his budget.
“Our attitude is to fight,” Manzia said. “Many community health centers have scraped their websites and take words like “trans” and “African Americans” from their websites. We are not going to do that. I am not going to erase those who serve. ”
Leaders of nonprofits that serve the poor, immigrant, and LGBTQ+ communities have been engaged in intense conversations for weeks about Trump and how he responds to policies, explicitly aiming to cut back on services to some of these groups.
GOP MP David Valadao represents the Central Valley district, where nearly two-thirds of its residents rely on Medicaid.
(Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
Institutional anxiety spiraled into new highs when Trump said last week that he might try to revoke the status of several groups of nonprofits, said Geoff Green, CEO of CalnonProfits.
“We’ve had financial stress and budget cuts before,” Green said. “But now it’s not only financial stress, but it’s a direct target of their very existence and a challenge to value at the heart of many of their work.”
In particular, leaders of small organisations do not feel they have the power or money to bring the Trump administration to court. Others representing immigrants are concerned that their leaders or their clients could be targeted for deportation if they publicly protest.
“For some people in this community, this is kind of code switching,” said an executive at a social justice nonprofit. “They may change some terms on their website, but that’s not going to change their mission. They want to avoid conflicts and attacks, so they can get out of the other end of this and do a good job.”
In one instance, the nonprofit refused to win awards sponsored by members of the California Legislature. Because organizations are concerned that the awards will provide unnecessary attention to services to immigrants.
“After all, it’s about protecting our most vulnerable people,” said a social justice executive. “Some organizations have more privileges and more resources. They can afford to go to court. They could be even more audacious.”
Public Advisors are one of the public interest law firms that have contracts that the Trump administration is threatening to fire. The potential loss of $1.6 million puts the Los Angeles-based company at risk representing hundreds of immigrant children.
Public Counsel CEO Katherine Aidman said he believes he has an obligation to call what his organization deems fraudulent.
“We have a responsibility to stand up to our mission and stand up for the client and the rule of law,” Aidman said. Public advisers are trying to intervene in court on behalf of “sanctuary” cities such as Los Angeles, threatened by loss of federal funds, and businesses have come to the defense of law firms aimed at providing pro bono representation to groups not supported by the Trump administration.
Public advisors and other nonprofit law firms are waiting to see if the Trump administration respects the judge’s temporary restraining order, demanding that funds continue to flow to those representing immigrant children. As of Wednesday, funds had not recovered, a spokesman for the public advisor said.
Another LA-region nonprofit that was threatened by loss of federal funds under Trump’s anti-DEI push is the Land Trust in the Los Angeles neighborhood.
The group has won a $500,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure that redevelopment along the Los Angeles River in northeastern LA protects the housing, jobs and services of working-class families. However, Land Trust executive director Tori Kjer said that money has stopped flowing this year without an explanation from the EPA.
“For them, this is probably a waste of money,” Kjer said. “For us, it’s about equitable development and construction in a way that supports everyone.”
Kjer said staff members of the liberal home have urged her group to remove Indigenous land approvals, for example, from all email signature lines. She refused to do so.
“We’re not going to change the way we do things for Trump,” Kjer said. “In California, as a state and in this region, we are still very progressive, and if we can’t keep this kind of work here, we’re in real trouble.
The campaign to protest potential Medicaid cuts will focus on six House districts where federally funded health systems are highly used and Republicans have at best a narrow electoral advantage.
Targeted districts include David Barradao from Central Valley and KenCalvert from Coachella Valley. Nearly two-thirds of Baradao’s members use Medicaid, but about 30% of the Calvert area do so.
Residents in these districts hear that Trump’s budget plans threaten to cut Medicaid for “daily people” and that it could threaten shutting down rural hospitals that are already struggling to achieve their goals.
The Health Justice Action Fund was created as 501(c)(4) by St. John’s and about 10 other healthcare providers. The regulations governing such funds allow them to engage in unlimited lobbying and some political activities (unlike the nonprofit organizations themselves).
Jim Manzia, President and CEO of St. John’s Community Health, Right, was on the panel in 2022 with then-Rescue and Welfare Director Xavier Beterra and Lamejois Karen Bass.
(Damian Dovarganes/Applications)
Additionally, this rule allows contributors to remain anonymous. This is necessary for some of his partners who believe they will be targeted for retaliation if it becomes clear that they have tried to block Trump’s policies.
Chased about his position, House Republicans argue that despite opposing views from experts, they can implement Trump cuts without receiving services from Medicaid recipients.
Valadao was one of 12 House Republicans who wrote to the leader that they would not support the White House plan if they were to force Medicaid cuts. Republican leaders are assuring their wobbled colleagues that they intend to eradicate waste, fraud and abuse only, without cutting Medicaid benefits.
Manzia said the campaign he and his allies are fighting for should be made even more clear that House Republicans can’t cut Medicaid.
“We’re currently in a very scary environment,” Manzia said. “But someone had to step up and defend Medicaid and the basic health care it offers. We weren’t going to let this happen without fighting.”
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