4.25.2017 AB 164 (Arambula) passed out of Assembly Human Services Committee with unanimous, bipartisan support! AB 164 would create a pathway to provide state CalFresh food assistance when federal assistance is unavailable or inadequate. AB 164 provides another tool in the toolbox to fight hunger, promote health and mitigate poverty.
A big thank you to Assemblymember Arambula for being a great champion of this effort to improve the state’s ability to respond to residents in need. We are grateful to all our community partners those who provided support, including the powerful testimony from Ashley Harrington with Jewish Family Services-San Diego at the committee hearing.
For twenty five years, CFPA has advocated for state policy that fights hunger and supports public health. CalFresh is the state’s largest and most effective means to do that for millions of residents. While CalFresh is primarily a federal program, California has a history of stepping up as a state. Twenty years ago, CFPA co-sponsored legislation that created the California Food Assistance Program for Immigrants to provide food stamps for lawfully-present immigrants shut out of the program by welfare reform. At that time, we successfully reacted to harmful federal changes. There is a great deal of instability in federal policy right now, and we cannot predict how this will affect California’s most vulnerable residents. AB 164 provides a way to be proactive, and improve the CalFresh system’s ability to step up in times of need, now and in the future.
Some Californians face unique challenges. AB 164 creates a pathway to mitigate the harm of these types of inequities as well. For example, the mechanism established by AB 164 could provide supplemental nutrition benefits to thousands of residents living without safe drinking water. link
AB 164 will need your continued support as it moves through the Assembly. Stay tuned for calls to action!
To learn more, visit CFPA’s AB 164 page.
Sign-up to receive AB 164 legislative updates. link
Questions: Contact Tracey Patterson at 510.433.1122 ext 101, or tracey@cfpa.net
