SB 882 (Wiener) is scheduled to be heard Tuesday, May 19 in the Senate Human Services Committee.
This important and timely bill would make it easier for eligible low-income Californians to sign up and stay connected to CalFresh, particularly older adults and people with disabilities. As the number of new CalFresh applications is surging due to the economic downturn and spiking unemployment, now is the time to make permanent improvements to ease access to CalFresh.
Submit a letter of support for SB 882: The bill is scheduled to be heard in the Senate Human Services Committee on Tuesday, May 19. To be counted, letters of support must be received by the Committee no later than May 12. Don’t wait, submit, yours today! Click here for a sample letter and directions for submission. doc
SB 882 would achieve the following:
- Require the State to provide counties with simplified CalFresh applications for households solely composed of seniors and people with disabilities and no earned income (also known as ESAP Households)
- Waive the CalFresh annual interim report requirement for approximately 500,000 ESAP households
- Ensure all applicants and participants can complete the application and
recertification interview processes by phone, including the required client signature.
As the COVID-19 crisis continues to make clear, meeting the nutritional needs of low-income households is an urgent and ongoing need. No one should go hungry in the great state of California, and it is our collective responsibility to use all the tools we have to make it easier for food-insecure older adults and people with disabilities to access our most powerful anti-hunger tool, CalFresh.
We applaud Senator Wiener’s leadership on SB 882, and we need your help to show broad support to the Legislature. You can support SB 882 by joining CFPA and our co-sponsors, the SF-Marin Food Bank, AARP-CA, and the California Association of Food Banks, in sending in a letter of support today.
Stay up to date on SB 882 as it advances through the Legislature, and receive timely calls to action to make your voice heard in support of improved CalFresh access. Sign up to receive our email action alerts at https://nourishca.org/subscribe/
Questions? Contact Jared Call at 213.482.8200 ext 201, or visit https://nourishca.org/SB882/
