It’s time to prioritize ending poverty & hunger in the state budget

+ Raise Supplemental Security Income (SSI) above the poverty level and restore the state COLA.

+ Fight hunger by supporting the CalFood Program that enables California food banks to purchase only California-grown foods­–$17.5 million provides 87.5 million meals.

+ Provide a state-funded emergency supplemental nutrition benefit for CalFresh households who must buy safe drinking water when their water system poses a serious health threat.

+ Expand the California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC) to all self-employed Californians who meet income eligibility requirements, increase the income eligibility threshold to include full-time minimum wage earners, and invest in outreach and free tax preparation programs.

+ Restore the COLA for CalWORKs recipients and extend the CalWORKs 48-month clock to 60 months to combat food insecurity among low-income families.

Support legislation that improves our anti-hunger programs

+ AB 164 (Arambula) would enable the CA Department of Social Services to more efficiently deliver state CalFresh benefits if federal assistance is unavailable or does not meet California’s needs

+ AB 563 (Arambula) would support CalFresh recipients in securing employment and earnings that are enough for them to exit poverty by establishing a CalFresh Employment & Training (E&T) Center for Excellence.

+ AB 607 (Gloria) would add the Disaster CalFresh Program into statute and establish various requirements of the Department of Social Services and County Human Services Agencies to respond to the need for emergency food assistance in times of disaster.  

+ AB 796 (Kalra) would reinstate the COLA for the SSI/SSP benefit and require a maximum aid payment that would increase incrementally until January 1, 2019, when it would be set at 100%

+ SB 138 (McGuire) would increase access to school meals by implementing Medi-Cal Direct Certification statewide and maximize federal provisions to offer free lunches and breakfast to all students in high poverty schools

+ SB 250 (Hertzberg) would prevent harmful treatment to school children when their families are unable to pay an unpaid debt to the school food services providers by establishing state standards for collecting unpaid fees.

+ SB708 (Skinner) would allow pre-enrollment into CalFresh and SSI, but only when appropriate permission is secured from the federal administering agencies. Also, allows state prisons to assist people who are incarcerated to secure a copy of their Social Security Card.

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