CALL-IN for Food4All!
Join our urgent call to action to protect Food4All!
On May 14, Gov. Gavin Newsom released his May Revision of the 2025-26 state budget plan, adding a “trigger-on” to the state’s commitment to the Food4All expansion, which will expand access to food assistance for Californians ages 55 and older, regardless of immigration status.
This means that implementation work, including automation, will continue as planned, and in spring 2027, the Department of Finance will assess if there are enough funds for the expansion to take place in October 2027. If there are, then the expansion will be “triggered on” and proceed as planned. While this is not a direct cut to Food4All, we recognize that the trigger-on has potential to cause further, harmful delays to the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP) expansion.
We are calling on state lawmakers to reject the proposed trigger-on and renew our commitment to an on-time expansion of CFAP to Californians ages 55 and over by October 2027. Join the Food4All coalition as we fight for an equitable food safety net where everyone has access to the food they need, regardless of where they were born. No exceptions, no exclusions, no delays.
On May 18, 2025, the Food4All coalition is hosting a Call-In Day to urge our state’s leaders to protect food assistance for California’s immigrant communities by supporting Food4All in the budget with no delays.
Join us!
How to call (it only takes 10 minutes!)
Call these five offices:
- Governor Gavin Newsom – (916) 445-2841
- Senate President pro Tem Mike McGuire – (916) 651-4002
- Senate Budget Committee Chair Scott Wiener – (916) 651-4011
- Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas – (916) 319-2029
- Assembly Budget Committee Chair Jesse Gabriel – (916) 319-2046
Use this sample script to share our urgent request:
“Hi, my name is ______ (optional: if you are calling on behalf of an organization, share the name and a line about what you do here).
I urge you to reject any provisions that further delay the expansion of the California Food Assistance Program for older adults in the final state budget. We must urgently protect our state’s commitment to make food benefits available to Californians ages 55 and older, regardless of immigration status, by October 2027.
The addition of a trigger to the CFAP expansion will not result in any savings in the upcoming budget year and sends a troubling message to immigrant communities that their well-being is conditional. We must not put the burden of balancing the budget on the backs of our vulnerable communities, and instead invest now in their health and stability.
California has a responsibility to uphold its commitment to protecting immigrant families. No one in California deserves to go hungry because of where they were born. No exceptions, no exclusions, no delays. Thank you.”
Fill out our tracking form linked here to let us know how it went!
While we are focusing the calls on May 28, feel free to call any day that works for you - or even more than once! The priority is to make sure that your legislators hear what is important to you.
Join our Kick-Off
From 9:00am - 9:45am on Wednesday, May 28, the Food4All cosponsors will host an informal and drop-in virtual kick-off event. During this call, drop in to ask questions, get support in making calls, and join other Food4All advocates in demanding our state’s leaders take a stand in supporting Food4All!
Use the button to the right to join our kick-off >>
Because this is an informal space with no presentation items, we are not planning to have interpretation. However, if you or someone else would like to have live interpretation in order to come ask questions, please email Jackie ASAP at jackie@nourishca.org.
BONUS: Post on social media to invite your network to join the fight!
Go to @nourishcalifornia on Instagram or BlueSky or @caimmigrant on Instagram or Twitter and reshare our social media graphic to tell others to join our call to action.
You can also share a short link to this blog post at bit.ly/call-in-f4a-may2025.
Thank you!
Food4All means no exceptions, no exclusions, and no delays. Immigrant Californians cannot keep waiting for access to critical food assistance - thank you for sharing this critical message with our state’s leaders.
Questions? Reach out to jackie@nourishca.org or bchao@caimmigrant.org
