Bill That Will End Federal Shutdown Will Cause Healthcare Costs to Jump for Tens of Thousands on Central Coast

Santa Barbara Congressmember Salud Carbajal Calls Bill ‘Ridiculous,’ Says He Won’t Vote for It

Congressmember Salud Carbajal, pictured volunteering at Food Share of Ventura County this week, said that Republicans have weaponized hunger during this shutdown. | Credit: Rep. Salud Carbajal via X

This article was underwritten in part by the Mickey Flacks Journalism Fund for Social Justice, a proud, innovative supporter of local news. To make a contribution go to sbcan.org/journalism_fund.

[Update: Thu., Nov. 13, 2025 8:55am] On Wednesday night, President Trump signed into law the spending package that earlier that evening had passed the House, ending the longest government shutdown in the country’s history.

[Update: Wed., Nov. 12, 2025, 6pm] On Wednesday, the House of Representatives voted 222-209 to give final passage of a budget bill that will fund the government through January, all but ensuring an end to the longest shutdown in U.S. history. Six Democrats joined Republicans to pass the bill. It now heads to President Donald Trump, who was scheduled to sign the bill Wednesday night, according to The New York Times.

[Original Story] The longest shutdown in government history may be nearing its end at the risk of millions of people’s healthcare bills skyrocketing and others losing coverage altogether. On Monday the Senate advanced a budget bill that will fund the government through January. It does not include the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits — federal subsidies that lower the cost of healthcare — that many Democrats have insisted must be included. The bill promises a vote on extending the healthcare subsidies in December.

House Representative Salud Carbajal, whose congressional district includes Santa Barbara County as well as parts of San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties, said he would vote no on the bill — and that the Republican party had only made hollow promises on holding a later vote.

“This is such a ridiculous, do-nothing proposal,” Carbajal said in a comment to the Independent.

The House has to pass the bill, and President Trump must sign it.

In California’s District 24, which includes Santa Barbara County, about 35,000 people will see their monthly healthcare bills climb — some will see it double or even triple. Ten thousand will lose coverage. That’s all according to numbers shared by Carbajal’s office in September. KFF, a policy analysis organization, collected data that shows how the Central Coast will be hard-hit.

The government shutdown impacts us here at home. Last week, tens of thousands of recipients of SNAP (the country’s largest federal food aid program) were unsure whether they’d get the money they rely on to buy food this month. Government employees — including civilian employees at Vandenberg Space Force Base and air traffic controllers — are furloughed or are working without pay. The airport has canceled flights to comply with government regulations. The childcare program Headstart and housing vouchers for low-income people (Section 8) remain operating, but with a timeline for when funding could run out.

As it stands, the bill would provide a year of funding for SNAP and WIC (a federal assistance program for infants, small children, and their parents). It would also fund veterans programs and military construction projects. It would reverse Trump’s administrative firings as part of the shutdown. Furloughed workers would receive backpay. The bill would also cut SNAP and Medicaid funding in the long term and include a series of tax cuts which will most greatly assist wealthy taxpayers.

Carbajal said that Republicans have weaponized hunger during this shutdown. He pointed to the White House’s spending, even as the administration pushed for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to withhold SNAP benefits.

“The White House [has] money for luxury ballrooms, private jets for cabinet members, $40 billion for Argentina, but not to feed the American people,” he said.

The bill passed on Monday includes a provision that would allow Senators to sue for $500,000 or more if their phone records are investigated by federal law enforcement without notifying them of it. The bill is retroactive, so that Republican senators whose phone records were subpoenaed as part of an investigation into the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol could sue. Attorney Jack Smith, who was special counsel to the Justice Department from 2022 to 2025, investigated the calls President Trump made to lawmakers in December 2020 and January 2021.

Representative Carbajal said the provision is designed to “isolate and enrich” the senators it will benefit — isolate them from future consequences and enrich them from lawsuit winnings. He called the provision corrupt.

Carbajal said he will continue to fight to reduce the cost of living on the Central Coast. At this time, he said, he is supporting a bill to extend the healthcare tax credits for another year.

The House will vote on the bill today.

Who Broke Ranks with Democrats to Advance GOP Plan?

Seven Democratic senators and one Independent who caucuses with Democrats voted with Republicans to advance the bill to end the shutdown. Those senators are: