Topic Category: CalFresh

New Policy Brief: Bridging Gaps in CalFresh Enrollment Among Newborn Infants

Posted on by Michelle Lee

Improving Access to Food Assistance at Birth

Background

CalFresh is a crucial resource for many families that helps to feed their children and reduce poverty. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, 49 percent of California children receive CalFresh at some point in their first five years of life. 

Yet despite its importance in safeguarding families’ health and well-being, more than one in three families with children struggle to enroll their newborn child in the program by three months’ age. This results in hundreds of dollars in vital food assistance potentially missed out on annually by families who qualify for increased benefits.

Learn more by reading our newest policy brief, Bridging Gaps in CalFresh Enrollment Among Newborn Infants.

CalFresh benefits are meant for the whole household. Babies could be either partially or fully relying on formula, which is expensive. CalFresh can be used to purchase formula, as well as to purchase additional food for breastfeeding parents with increased nutritional needs. Parents who are recovering from birth need consistent access to nutritious food to recover. Considering how critical nutrition is for mothers and infants during this stage of life, as well as how much new parents are dealing with in those first three months, county and state administrators must take the necessary steps to ensure that families have the resources to the food they need to thrive.

What the policies and stakeholders say

1. Families are being asked for more information than necessary.

For families who want to add their newborn infant onto their existing CalFresh case, only the baby’s name and date of birth should be required. However, sometimes families are mistakenly asked by County CalFresh Eligibility Workers to verify unnecessary information, such as a Social Security Number (SSN) and proof that the baby has been born. Families should only need to provide the federally mandated documentation to enroll newborns into CalFresh.

2. Newborn enrollment outcomes differ from county to county.

In some counties, there is often a significant gap between when a baby is born and when eligibility workers learn of the birth. Even if families report an expected birth, they must reach out again once the baby is born to get the newborn enrolled. In some instances, it’s not enough for families to report the birth – they are asked and expected to proactively request CalFresh benefits for their newborn baby. 

3. Though newborn enrollment is straightforward and expedited for Medi-Cal, the enrollment procedures are not aligned with CalFresh.

For newborn enrollment into Medi-Cal, eligibility workers actively collect information from families, hospital workers enroll babies at the hospital, and the process is simplified if the baby’s parents are already enrolled in Medi-Cal. These processes don’t happen in CalFresh cases, even if the family is receiving Medi-Cal. 

The onus should not be on the family to juggle through the paperwork and navigate a complex process to get food benefits to which they are entitled. CalFresh administrators should institute policies and procedures to proactively reach out to families to enroll newborns in CalFresh.

Quote: “I’ve heard more than once that families have been told [by the eligibility worker] the baby needs to be ‘eating’ or walking in order to receive CalFresh.”

Recommendations

Policies and procedures should standardize the required verification to enroll newborns into CalFresh at birth, which is solely the baby’s name and their date of birth. There should be a process to ensure that the report of a newborn to a household’s Medi-Cal case gets applied to CalFresh as well, especially since county workers are now required to dually enroll individuals into CalFresh if they qualify for and are receiving Medi-Cal. Eligibility workers, administrators, and advocates must all work proactively to ensure timely receipt of additional CalFresh benefits for families without unnecessary and harmful delays.

What’s next?

Want to learn more and receive timely calls to action to improve CalFresh? Join our campaign to eliminate barriers and boost benefits in CalFresh. Sign up here.

Questions? Contact Michelle Lee at michelle@nourishca.org.

Food4All Town Hall Materials & Further Actions

Posted on by Betzabel Estudillo

Thank you for attending the Food4All Town Hall on Wednesday, July 27th hosted by Nourish California, Latino Coalition for a Health California (LCHC), and California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC). We had such a robust conversation about the continued fight for #Food4All with one of our budget champions Assemblymember Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles), as well as presentations from our advocates Mar Velez of LCHC, Benyamin Chao of CIPC, and Sonia Guiñansaca of Gender Justice LA. 

We also want to thank Governor Newsom, SB 464 (Food4All) bill author Senator Hurtado, Budget Committee Chair Senator Skinner, Budget Subcommittee #3 Chair Senator Eggman, Senate Pro Tem Atkins, Assembly Leadership, and all of Food4All’s supporters in the Legislature for centering equity and making history by including Food4All funding for immigrants aged 55+ in the 2022-23 state budget.

Thank you for all of the thoughtful comments and questions. See below for webinar materials and further actions:

Presentation Content

Stay Connected + Take Action

Contact info for our speakers + campaign leads: 

  • Mar Velez, LCHC: mvelez@lchc.org
  • Benyamin Chao, CIPC: bchao@caimmigrant.org 
  • Sonia Guiñansaca, GJLA: sonia@gjla.org 
  • Janette Villafana, LA Taco:
    • Twitter: @Janette_v
    • Instagram: @_janette_v
  • Assemblymember Miguel Santiago:
      • Twitter: @SantiagoAD53
      • Instagram: @miguelsantiagoad53

Thank you so much again for attending our Food4All Town Hall!

Gracias por asistir a nuestro evento de Food4All el miércoles 27 de julio organizado por Nourish California, Latino Coalition for a Health California (LCHC) y California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC). Tuvimos una conversación sobre la lucha por #Food4All con nuestro líder de nuestra propuesta de presupuesto, el asambleísta Miguel Santiago, así como presentaciones de nuestros defensores Mar Velez de LCHC, Benyamin Chao de CIPC y Sonia Guiñansaca de Gender Justice LA.

También queremos agradecer al autor del proyecto de ley SB 464 (Food4All): Senadora Hurtado, la Presidenta del Comité de Presupuesto: Senadora Skinner, la Presidenta del Subcomité de Presupuesto n.º 3: Senadora Eggman, Senadora Pro Tem Atkins, Liderazgo de la Asamblea y al Gobernador Newsom por centrar la equidad y hacer historia al incluir los fondos de Food4All para inmigrantes mayores de 55 años en el presupuesto estatal  2022-23.

Gracias por todos los comentarios y preguntas. A continuación los materiales del evento y otras acciones:

Contenido de la presentación

Manténgase conectado + Actúe

  • Agradezca a sus legisladores por financiar Food4All para los californianos indocumentados mayores de 55 años e úrgalos que apoyen a Food4All para todas las edades en el presupuesto estatal del próximo año haciendo clic aquí.
  • Manténgase actualizado sobre otras acciones de Food4All en el Centro de Acción de Nourish California.
  • Suscríbase a las actualizaciones de Food4All y obtenga más información sobre la campaña aquí.

Información de contacto de nuestros oradores + líderes de campaña:

  • Mar Vélez, LCHC: mvelez@lchc.org
  • Benyamin Chao, CIPC: bchao@caimmigrant.org
  • Sonia Guiñansaca, GJLA: sonia@gjla.org
  • Janette Villafaña, LA Taco:
    • Twitter: @Janette_v
    • Instagram: @_janette_v
  • Asambleísta Miguel Santiago:
    • Twitter: @SantiagoAD53
    • Instagram: @miguelsantiagoad53

¡Muchas gracias de nuevo por asistir a nuestro evento de Food4All!

State Acts to Ease Burden on Parents Adding Newborns to CalFresh Household

Posted on by Michelle Lee

CalFresh is our largest, most impactful anti-hunger program. It remains a crucial resource for many families that helps to feed their children and reduce poverty. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, 49 percent of California children receive CalFresh at some point in their first five years of life. 

Yet despite its importance in safeguarding families’ health and well-being, more than 1 in 3 families with children struggle to enroll their newborn child in the program by three months’ age. This results in potentially hundreds of dollars in vital food assistance missed out on annually by families who qualify for increased benefits, all at a time when families face increased stress and access to adequate nutrition is particularly critical.

A reason for this gap could be due to issues surrounding required verification for CalFresh enrollment. According to federal guidelines, newborn infants need minimal information to be eligible for CalFresh benefits. For families who want to add their newborn infant onto their existing CalFresh case, only the baby’s name and date of birth should be required. However, sometimes families are asked by County CalFresh Eligibility Workers to verify unnecessary information, such as an SSN and proof that the baby has been born. Families should only need to provide the federally mandated documentation to enroll newborns into CalFresh.

This past year, Nourish California worked with the CA Department of Social Services (CDSS), county CalFresh administrators, and other stakeholders, to ensure that this information is communicated clearly to families and eligibility workers. The newly issued guidance in ACIN I-54-22 provides county administrators with clarification regarding Social Security Numbers (SSN) for families with newly born children.

We would like to thank CDSS for their work in publishing this ACIN, as well as the CalFresh administrators, application assisters, and stakeholders who shared their experiences with us and informed our advocacy with the state.

What’s next?

Want to learn more and receive timely calls to action to improve CalFresh? Join our campaign to eliminate barriers and boost benefits in CalFresh. Sign up here.

Questions? Contact Michelle Lee at michelle@nourishca.org.

2022-23 State Budget Includes Anti-Hunger Investments but Misses Opportunity for Historic Progress

Posted on by Jared Call

This week, Governor Newsom and the Legislature reached a final agreement on the 2022-23 State Budget. The newly-signed $300 billion budget makes largely one-time investments, continues to build the state’s reserves, and includes a tax rebate program that will send direct payments to nearly 20 million Californians. While the spending plan makes significant investments to support Californians with low income, it fails to fully seize this historic opportunity make the transformative investments to address the longstanding inequities in our state’s nutrition safety net.

Food and Nutrition Investments

Below is an overview of major investments in the 2022-23 state budget relevant to food and nutrition.

Food4All: Expanding the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP)

The final 2022-23 budget includes funding for Food4All to remove exclusions to the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP)/CalFresh for Californians 55 and older, regardless of immigration status. This means that California will be the first state in the nation to provide food assistance benefits to undocumented adults. 

While this is a major win for the Food4All campaign as well as older adult immigrants who will be able to receive critical food assistance through access to CalFresh benefits, it is not enough. There are many more California immigrants younger than 55 who will continue to face rising food insecurity and inequitable access to our nutrition safety net without a full investment in Food4All.

Take Action: Join us in celebrating this win by thanking Governor Newsom and the California legislature, and continuing to push for full funding for #Food4All by sharing the sample social messages and graphics found in our Social Media Toolkit.

The Food4All coalition will continue to be active during the legislative summer recess. If you’re interested in getting involved or have questions, email Senior Advocate Betzabel Estudillo at betzabel@nourishca.org.

Child Care Nutrition

Nourish California remains disappointed this year’s budget did not include any additional funding for child care nutrition, specifically the Food with Care proposal. including no provisions to increase funding for child care meals. This despite the fact that child care providers – mainly Black, Brown, and immigrant women – are facing significant food hardship with more than half reporting often or sometimes running out of food.

Nourish California will continue to champion policies and state investments to adeqhttps://act.nourishca.org/campaign/food-with-careuately fund child care and will lift up the need for dedicated child care nutrition funding in the state budget.

Take Action: Join the Food with Care campaign here

CalFresh

The final budget includes funding for the Department of Social Services to regularly publish available data regarding CalFresh eligibility and enrollment among college students.

This year’s budget also establishes the Tribal Nutrition Assistance Program, to be administered by the Department of Social Services. This new program would award grants, no later than July 1, 2023, to eligible tribes and tribal organizations to address food insecurity and inequities between CalFresh benefits and the federal Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR).

Finally, the budget creates a CalFresh E&T Workers’ Compensation Fund for the purpose of paying workers’ compensation claims resulting from CalFresh recipients’ participation in the CalFresh Employment & Training  program.

The final budget includes no other major investments or improvements in CalFresh, despite California families continuing to face high rates of hunger and inequitable access to food. Nourish California and our anti-hunger partners strongly urge the Governor and Legislature to prioritize improving access and boosting benefits in the next budget year. 

Take Action: Join our campaign to boost CalFresh benefits and eliminate barriers to access.

K-12 School Nutrition

The final budget continues the state’s historic investment in school nutrition programs. It includes $1.2 billion in annual funding for state school meal reimbursements, reflecting the intent to match the current reimbursement rates happening under federal pandemic waivers. We applaud this tremendous investment in the health, well being, and nourishment of California kids. 

We are also pleased that the implementing bill language provide for in-year assessments and adjustments that guarantee neither schools nor students will be not short changed. This structure will ensure sustained funding to reach all students with the nutritious school meals they need. In years past, when the number of school meals served exceeded anticipated participation, schools  received a lower per-meal reimbursement from the state than expected. Such unanticipated budget shortfalls create undue burdens on school meal programs. 

The budget also includes $700 million for school kitchen facilities and infrastructure upgrades, $60 million for Farm to School grants program, $10 million for cafeteria worker training, and $2.4 million for program evaluation.

Take Action: Join our campaign to ensure free school meals reach every kid, every day.  

Emergency Food

The budget provides $120 million one-time for CalFood (including $112 million in the 2022-23 budget year to be spent over 3 years, in addition to the $8 million established in the annual base budget).

Nutrition for Older Adults 

The final budget does not include any significant new investments in nutrition for older adults. 

Health Care

We are thrilled that the final budget expand Medi-Cal eligibility to undocumented immigrants ages 26 to 49, meaning beginning in 2024, all undocumented immigrants in California will be eligible for comprehensive Medi-Cal coverage. Nourish California applauds the Legislature and Administration for this step toward a more equitable health care system, and call on him to do the same for vital food assistance by fully funding Food4All in next year’s budget.

Broader Safety Net and Income Support Proposals

For an overview of additional investments in the 2022-23 budget relevant to the health and well-being of low-income Californians, please see this helpful analysis from our friends at the California Budget & Policy Center.

What’s Next in the Fight to End Hunger in California?

Hunger and hardship continue to impact Californians with low income, and in even greater numbers among Californians who identify as Black or Latinx. Nourish California and our partners and allies will continue to advance equitable, people-centered policy solutions that target resources to those facing the starkest inequities. ]You can stay up to date on policy development, research, and advocacy signing up to receive timely updates through our Action Center. We invite you to join us and make your voice heard to help ensure that all Californians have the food they need to thrive.

Questions?

Contact Jared Call at jared@nourishca.org or 323.401.4972

CA invests in Food4All for undocumented immigrants 55 and older

Posted on by Betzabel Estudillo

BIG NEWS! Last night, the Governor and California Legislature reached an agreement on the final 2022-2023 State Budget which includes funding for Food4All to remove exclusions to the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP)/CalFresh for Californians 55 and older, regardless of immigration status. This means that California will be the first state in the nation to provide food assistance benefits to undocumented adults. 

While this is a major win for the Food4All campaign as well as older adult immigrants who will be able to receive critical food assistance through access to CalFresh benefits, it is not enough. There are many more California immigrants younger than 55 who will continue to face rising food insecurity and inequitable access to our nutrition safety net without a full investment in Food4All.

Support Food4All:

  • Join us in celebrating this win by thanking Governor Newsom and the California legislature, and continuing to push for full funding for #Food4All by sharing the sample social messages and graphics found in our Social Media Toolkit.

The Food4All coalition will continue to be active during the legislative summer recess. If you’re interested in getting involved or have questions, email Senior Advocate Betzabel Estudillo at betzabel@nourishca.org.

#Food4All May Revise Press Conference in Community

Posted on by Jackie Mendelson

On Friday, May 20th, the #Food4All Coalition hosted a press conference in partnership with the LA Regional Food Bank to urge Governor Newsom to include full funding for Food4All in the final enacted 2022-23 state budget. This was our first in-person Food4All coalition event, and we were so grateful to be in community with such incredible advocates and community leaders.

Speakers included our budget champion Assemblymember Miguel Santiago; community members and advocates Ilyas Chao, Graciela, and Sonia Guiñansaca, Betzabel Estudillo, Benyamin Chao, and Derek Polka.

We had a great coalition presence with Food4All signs and our very first banner! Thank you Latino Coalition for a Healthy California, Visión y Compromiso, Hunger Action LA, National Health Foundation, Gender Justice LA, WORKS, UCLA Labor Center, and many others for attending this event. This work would not be possible without community members and advocates who shared their expertise and stories.

We had great media turnout with seven media outlets covering the press conference. Check out Food4All in the media here!

Join our Food4All movement! Visit our action center for Food4All advocacy opportunities!

Questions? Contact Betzabel Estudillo at betzabel@nourishca.org.

In Grief & Action

Posted on by Tia Shimada

Days ago, 21 precious lives were ended at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas during yet another mass shooting. 

  • Schools should be safe places of learning, enrichment, and nourishment.
  • Churches should be safe places of worship.
  • Grocery stores should be safe places where everyone has access to the food they need.

As people, as parents, our team grieves with the families and communities that have experienced profound, heartbreaking, preventable loss. 

As advocates, we call on all government leaders, especially our members of Congress and President Biden, to take decisive action. Pass bold policies that will prevent gun violence.

Each of us must hold our elected leaders accountable for enacting equitable, inclusive, effective changes that protect the safety and well being of our communities.

This loss of life is unacceptable. We need our government to act like it. 

Please consider contributing to organizations supporting the Uvalde community and organizations advocating policies to end gun violence. 

In grief and action,

The Nourish California Team

In Solidarity with Buffalo, NY

Posted on by Tia Shimada

Earlier this month, ten people were killed and three more injured during a racist, hate-filled, white supremacist act of domestic terrorism at a grocery store that serves a predominantly Black community in Buffalo, NY. 

People were attacked while shopping for food and while working to make food available to others.

The attack targeted not just community members, but a community resource — a grocery store that community advocates worked for years to see opened. The store is the only full-service supermarket accessible to the East Side of Buffalo. 

We have tried to find the right words to respond. But there are no right words. So instead, we share our commitments. 

  • We hold ourselves accountable for fighting anti-Black racism & the systems that perpetuate it. 
  • We reject hate.
  • We honor the people and communities harmed by all acts of violence. 
  • We engage in difficult, necessary conversations to confront racism, inequity, and exclusion.  
  • We work toward a world where everyone has fair, safe access to the food they need.

Please consider supporting organizations that serve Buffalo communities. 

In solidarity, 

The Nourish California Team

AB 2153 (Arambula) Held in Assembly Appropriations, Won’t Move On this Year

Posted on by Jared Call

AB 2153 (Arambula) Held in Assembly Appropriations, Won’t Move On this Year

Published on May 20, 2022 in CalFresh, State Legislation

Yesterday AB 2153 (Arambula) the CalFresh Fruit & Vegetable Supplemental Benefits Expansion, failed to pass out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Nourish California and SPUR, the bill’s cosponsors, are disappointed the bill will not be moving forward. However, we remain committed to pursuing policies that will reduce hunger and poverty in our state by boosting CalFresh benefits. 

We would like to thank Assemblymember Arambula for his strong leadership on AB 2153, and for his ongoing commitment to improving food access for Californians with low income. We also thank the many individuals and organizations that supported the bill and budget request throughout the legislative session.

We appreciate your time, efforts and advocacy. Together, we can dramatically increase the number and geographic diversity of CalFresh households who can access supplemental benefits, and move the program one step closer to becoming a permanent supplement to CalFresh. Thank you.

What’s next?

We will take the next few months to assess the policy landscape, listen to CalFresh participants about their experiences, and continue to build our strong and diverse coalition. Stay tuned for updates about the campaign to boost benefits and eliminate barriers in CalFresh.

Background

Fruit and vegetable supplemental benefit programs, which provide CalFresh participants with matching dollars when they buy California-grown fruits and vegetables, make food more affordable while also supporting California farmers. Numerous organizations have piloted these initiatives, also commonly known as healthy food incentive programs, at grocery stores and farmers’ markets in California. Evaluations from those programs in California, and others nationally, show that they reduce hunger, improve health, and boost the agricultural economy.

Learn more and take action to eliminate barriers and boost benefits in CalFresh at our Action Center.

Questions? Contact: Jared Call at jared@nourishca.org.

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Governor’s May Revision Falls Short on Nutrition Safety Net Investments

Posted on by Jared Call

Last Friday, Governor Newsom introduced his May Revision to the 2022-23 State Budget proposal. The newly proposed budget uses record anticipated revenue to make largely one-time investments and continue to build reserves. The Governor’s plan includes virtually no new ongoing investments in food and nutrition programs. The proposal falls well short of what is needed to address the longstanding inequities in our state’s nutrition safety net.

Budget Overview

The Governor’s budget projects $49 billion in discretionary revenues, $227 billion in General Fund spending, and builds reserves to $37 billion.  

The Governor’s May Revision makes no significant new investments in nutrition programs, but does continue investments in the broader safety net. It fulfills previous commitments to historic ongoing investments in school nutrition and health care for undocumented immigrants. Much more is needed, however, to address the historic rates of hunger experienced by Californians during the pandemic.  Low- and moderate-income Californians continue to bear the brunt of the economic impacts of COVID-19, particularly Black and Latinx individuals and families. The state must seize this opportunity to make long-term transformative changes to build a fair, just, and equitable safety net. Nourish California looks forward to working with the Legislature and Administration to ensure a final budget package reflects an equitable approach so that all Californians have the resources to meet their basic needs, including food.

Food and Nutrition

Below is an overview of major funding proposals relevant to food and nutrition.

Food4All: Expanding the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP)

Nourish California is disappointed that the May Revision did not include additional funding to expand eligibility in the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP) to immigrants of ALL ages ineligible for CalFresh solely due to their immigration status. We remain pleased that the Governor’s budget plan will expand CFAP to immigrants age 55 and over beginning in 2022-23, but the May Revision missed an opportunity to build a more equitable nutrition safety net — one that adequately supports ALL Californians when they need help putting food on the table. The Food4All Coalition calls on the Governor and Budget leaders to take a bold step to permanently address the unjust immigrant exclusion in the state’s nutrition safety net. Now is the time for California to dismantle racist and xenophobic exclusions, and invest in bolstering healthy communities and families in our state. 

Learn more and take action here: https://act.nourishca.org/campaign/food4all

Child Care Nutrition

Nourish California is disappointed the Administration’s 2022-23 May Revise did not include any additional funding for child care nutrition, specifically the Food with Care proposal. including no provisions to increase funding for child care meals. This despite the fact that child care providers – mainly Black, Brown, and immigrant women – are facing significant food hardship with more than half reporting often or sometimes running out of food.

Nourish California and Food with Care cosponsors the CACFP Roundtable will continue to call on the Governor and Senate and Assembly budget leaders regarding the importance of adequately funding child care and will lift up the need for dedicated child care nutrition funding in the state budget.

Take action: Sign the petition telling Governor Newsom to fund Food with Care in the state budget.

CalFresh

The May Revision includes no new significant investments or improvements in CalFresh, despite California families continuing to face high rates of hunger and inequitable access to food. Nourish California and our anti-hunger partners strongly urge the Governor and Legislature to prioritize expanding the CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable Supplemental Benefits program to provide a much-needed boost to CalFresh benefits.

Take action: Sign the petition telling Governor Newsom to boost CalFresh benefits in the state budget.

K-12 School Nutrition

The Governor proposes an increase to the 2021-22 budget’s historic investment in school nutrition programs. The May Revision increases annual funding for state school meal reimbursements by $611.8 million, reflecting the intent to match the current reimbursement rates happening under federal pandemic waivers. The waivers allow a higher rate of per-meal reimbursement than schools have typically received under the School Breakfast Program and National School Lunch Program. We applaud this tremendous investment in the health, well being, and nourishment of California kids. 

We also call on the Governor and the Legislature to ensure sustained funding to reach all students with the nutritious school meals they need. In years past, when the number of school meals served exceeded anticipated participation, schools  received a lower per-meal reimbursement from the state than expected. Such unanticipated budget shortfalls create undue burdens on school meal programs. Under the soon to be implemented School Meals for All policies, potential budget shortfalls would be especially disruptive. Nourish California strongly urges the Governor and Legislature to structure the reimbursement as an entitlement, or failing that, to provide for in-year assessments and adjustments that guarantee neither schools nor students will be not short changed.

Learn more and take action here: https://act.nourishca.org/campaign/every-kid

Emergency Food

The Governor’s January 10 budget proposal includes $50 million one-time funding for the CalFood program. While a significant investment in the state’s emergency food system, the Governor’s proposal falls well short of the heightened need food banks are still struggling to meet. Nourish California and the California Hunger Action Coalition are calling on the Governor to allocate $120 million ($60 million ongoing, $60 million one-time) for CalFood so that food banks can purchase California-grown foods.

Nutrition for Older Adults 

The Governor’s May Revision does not include any significant new investments in nutrition for older adults. 

Broader Safety Net and Income Support Proposals

Below is an overview of additional proposals in the Governor’s budget relevant to the health and well-being of low-income Californians.

Gas Tax Rebate

The Governor proposes allocating $11.5 billion of the record surplus to provide rebates to Californians paying higher prices for gasoline. The program would be administered through the DMV, sending Californians with a registered vehicle a debit card with $400 each for up to two registered vehicles. While the rebate would not be available for vehicles above a certain value, there is no information yet available on the vehicle value eligibility threshold.

The administration’s gas rebate fails to target record surplus dollars to Californians who need it most. According to the California Budget & Policy Center, Californians without cars are twice as likely to struggle to meet their basic needs. If state leaders want to invest in short-term relief, it should target aid to Californians who need help affording rent, food, medication, and transportation, and not at the expense of long-term investments in an equity-centered safety net. Nourish California calls on The Legislature and Governor to enact an economic relief plan that supports Californians who have borne the brunt of the pandemic and economic downturn, in particular Black, Latinx, women, and immigrant Californians.

Economic Support for Californians with Low Income

CalWORKS Grants

The May Revision includes an 11% increase to CalWORKs grants, but falls short of raising CalWORKs grants above deep poverty for all families. The Legislature can and should go further in its budget plan by providing an additional 18% grant increase for households with an excluded member, who are left out of the Governor’s proposed increase.

Refundable Tax Credits

The Governor’s revised budget maintains his January proposals to modestly expand certain refundable tax credits, including the Young Child Tax Credit, and a new tax credit for former foster youth. Disappointingly, it does not include any new proposals to expand the California Earned Income Tax Credit at a time when many Californians with low and moderate incomes need economic support to meet their basic needs and get back on their feet.

SSI/SSP Grants

The 2021-22 state budget included a 24% increase to the state portion of the SSI/SSP grants, and also committed to providing an additional substantial increase to SSP grants in January 2024. While advocates applaud the increase, older adults and people with disabilities need additional economic support as soon as possible. The Governor’s May Revise fails to accelerate these long overdue grant increases, even as SSI/SSP recipients struggle to make ends meet on a fixed income while the cost of basic needs like food and housing spike. The Governor should adopt the Senate budget plan to accelerate the grant increases to provide relief as soon as possible.

Homelessness and Housing

The May Revision maintains the governor’s January homelessness proposals and adds several new proposals to address homelessness,including:

  • An additional $150 million in 2022-23 for the Homekey program, bringing total proposed Homekey funding to $2.9 billion over two years. 
  • An additional $250 million General Fund each year in 2022-23 and 2023-24 for grants to local governments to create interim housing on state-owned land intended as transitional housing pending the development of more long-term housing solutions.

Despite the additional funding to address the homelessness crisis, the Governor’s May Revision represents a missed opportunity to invest in more long-term affordable housing. 

Health Care

We are pleased that the Governor’s May Revision maintains the January proposal to expand Medi-Cal eligibility to undocumented immigrants ages 26 to 49, meaning beginning in 2024, all undocumented immigrants in California will be eligible for comprehensive Medi-Cal coverage. Nourish California applauds the Governor for this step toward a more equitable health care system, and call on him to do the same for vital food assistance by fully funding Food4All.

What’s Next?

The Legislature is currently holding hearings to discuss the Governor’s May Revision. Negotiations between the Administration and Legislature will now begin in earnest. The Legislature has until June 15 to pass the budget bill and the Governor’s must sign the final budget no more than 12 days following the bill’s passage.

Critical nutrition priorities will continue to need broad and vocal support to be included in the final budget package. You can stay up to date on our budget advocacy and receive timely calls to action by visiting our Action Center. Make your voice heard to help ensure that all Californians have the food they need to thrive.

Questions?

Contact Jared Call at jared@nourishca.org or 323.401.4972

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