Billboard near Fresno criticizes U.S. Rep. David Valadao’s vote for Medi-Cal cuts
A billboard criticizing Rep. David Valadao’s vote supporting President Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” that includes cuts to Medicaid coverage impacting many of his constituents went up Wednesday in Kings County.
Valadao, R-Hanford, has faced protests outside his Valley offices in Bakersfield and Hanford after he voted to approve cuts to Medicaid, known as Medi-Cal in California.
The billboard, paid for by the Kings County Democratic Party, depicts Valadao with a long nose, like Pinocchio. “Rep. Valadao said he wouldn’t cut Medi-Cal,” the billboard reads. “He voted for HUGE cuts. People WILL die.”
The bill narrowly passed the Senate on Tuesday and headed back to the house.
“Congressman Valadao’s vote shows that he is more concerned about protecting billionaires’ bank accounts than the health and lives of people living in the Valley,” said Cathy Jorgensen, chair of the Kings County Democratic Party.
Valadao was one of the nine California House Republicans who voted in May to pass the 1,000-page package of tax cuts by a 215-214 vote in the House of Representatives. The legislation includes an $880 billion cut in Medicaid funds. The Senate’s bill proposed cutting more. The House is expected to vote this week on the reconciliation bill.
While Valadao voted for the House version of the bill, he has said he would not support a final reconciliation bill that would affect the vulnerable population in his district.
The Central Valley, particularly Valadao’s congressional district, has one of the highest Medicaid enrollment in the nation.
According to the California Health Care Foundation, about two-thirds of all residents in Valadao’s District 22 receive Medi-Cal. The majority Latino district includes most of Kings County and parts of Tulare and Kern counties.
In a letter to congressional Republican leaders dated June 24 signed by 15 other House Republicans, Valadao expressed his concerned of the Senate bill’s version that “fails to preserve existing state programs and impose stricter limits that do not give hospitals sufficient time to adjust.”
“We cannot support a final bill that threatens access to coverage or jeopardizes the stability of our hospitals and providers,” Valadao said.
Medi-Cal payments to hospitals totaled $820 million, or 50% of net patient revenue in Valadao’s district, according to the California Health Care Foundation.
California could lose up to 217,000 jobs with the cuts to Medicaid, according to a policy brief by the UC Berkely Labor Center.
The billboard is located on the north side of Highway 198 between 11th and 12th avenues about a mile west of Valadao’s district office in Hanford.
The new billboard, which cost $1,750 per month and was funded by individual donations, replaced another billboard urging Valadao to protect Medicaid funding. That billboard was up for about 2 months.
Jorgensen said the new billboard has been in the works for about a month.
The group said Valadao’s support for cuts to Medicaid is nothing new. In 2017, Valadao voted for the American Health Care Act, which would have repealed the Affordable Care Act and cut nearly $880 billion from Medicaid.
This story was originally published July 3, 2025 at 10:00 AM.
