Republican lawmakers are trying to reverse a provision in New York's $229 billion state budget that shifted $1 billion in Medicaid funding away from county governments. 

County leaders have warned that without the combined $1 billion from federal medical assistance percentage funds, they could be forced to consider property tax increases. 

State Sen. Mark Walczyk on Monday announced he was backing the measure meant to reverse the budget provision. 

“Property taxpayers are rightly outraged by the Governor's plan to shift more Medicaid burden onto them,” Walczyk said. "Likewise, the seven counties of the 49th Senate District all know how massive this theft of programmed Federal money is. What they're doing is wrong and we should immediately take up this legislative fix to reverse the damage."

In Walczyk's district alone, all but two counties will lose more than $1.5 million funding. County officials believe the loss of mone could be even larger than estimated by the state based on historicla data, he said. 

“Herkimer County strongly disapproves of the Governor’s plan to steal just under 2 million dollars of eFMAP funding away from our taxpayers,” said Herkimer County Legislature Chairman, Vincent J. Bono. “This intercept is simply government theft in plain sight. We are opposed to this plan and will do anything we can to stop its implementation."