Nourish California Response to the Governor’s May Revision
Governor Newsom makes some critical investments in the food safety net, but more is needed to advance food justice in California
On May 14, 2026, the Governor released his May revision to the 2026-2027 State Budget, holding steady on investments made to our food safety net in past years while making some new critical investments. However, the May revision falls short of what is needed to fully mitigate the harm of HR 1 – federal legislation that makes significant cuts and eligibility changes to our safety net programs that millions of Californians depend on. Nourish California urges the Governor and our legislative leaders to go further and ensure that every Californian has access to the food they need to thrive.
The stakes could not be higher. This has been a challenging year for many communities. Californians grapple with rising food and gas prices, immigration kidnappings of our friends and family, undocumented and U.S. citizens alike, and a wave of harmful federal bills and actions. The May revision makes modest steps forward but they do not match the scale of the hardship so many are facing. We urge the Governor to be bold – to leave a legacy that reflects California’s values of inclusion and care for all who call our state home.
We are also reminded in times like these that community power drives change. That a few people can make a difference. At Nourish California, we stand with community members to fight cruel policies while protecting hard-won progress. We can’t do this alone. Join us by taking action to ensure that our state budget advances food justice.
Together, we can build a more inclusive and equitable California.
Food4All Campaign: No Exceptions. No Exclusions. No Delays.
The May revision maintained California’s commitment to the planned automation for the expansion of the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP) food benefits to Californians ages 55 and older, which will begin in October 2027. However, the May revision fails to address a looming hunger crisis as tens of thousands of refugees, asylees, and other immigrants with humanitarian status are unjustly shut out of critical food assistance due to HR 1. In early 2026 it was estimated that the number of humanitarian immigrants who will lose CalFresh due to HR 1 eligibility changes would be 72,000. However, the May Revise lowered this to 34,000 based in large part to a sharp decline in enrollment between July 2025 and December 2025, due most likely to federal actions increasing the chilling effect. The message here is clear: the harm of HR 1 began well before the policy was implemented at the state level, and our leaders have yet to take mitigative action. It’s not too late for our leaders to invest in expanding Food4All so that immigration status is not a barrier to accessing critical food support.
Summary: Continues with the expansion of CFAP for 55+ Californians regardless of immigration status. Makes no new investments to further expand CFAP through automation or allocating funding for benefits for humanitarian immigrants excluded from CalFresh due to HR 1.
Ask: 1) Maintain the CFAP expansion timeline for older adults, regardless of immigration status; 2) fund the $1.8 million one-time automation to expand the CFAP to humanitarian immigrants and other Californians cut off of CalFresh due to HR 1 time limits; and 3) commit to funding food benefits for 55+ and humanitarian immigrants in 2027-2028.
Contact: Jackie Mendelson at jackie@nourishca.org
Boosting Benefits: Fruit & Vegetable EBT Program Campaign
The May revision did not include continued funding for the critical CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable EBT Program, which provides CalFresh families up to $60/month in additional benefits when they purchase fresh fruits and vegetables at participating retail stores. This program provides healthy food more affordable for low-income Californians, especially needed now as food costs continue to rise and resources to support low-income Californians shrink due to harms stemming from H.R. 1. The May revision also reappropriated up to $4.8 million of existing CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable EBT program funding from the Budget Act of 2025 to the FY 2026-2027 state budget to allow the funds to be used in the upcoming fiscal year.
Without renewed funding, the program, which has served more than 325,000 Californians since its inception, will shut down at the end of June 2026. The program received $36 million in the 2025-26 state budget, which allowed it to relaunch in time for the holiday season this past November. In April 2026 alone, the program reached 92,000 households, providing nearly $4.85 million in fruit and vegetable supplemental benefits. The expected program shutdown will be especially harmful as cuts resulting from the federal passage of H.R. 1 are already weakening the national food safety net.
Summary: No new funding to continue with the CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable EBT program. There was some funding reappropriated for next year. We expect a program shutdown at the end of June 2026 without new funding.
Ask: Include $100M in funding in the FY 2026-27 state budget to continue to operate this program uninterrupted for 12 more months and expand to reach many more Calfresh families in unserved regions in California.
Contact: Michelle Lee at michelle@nourishca.org
Every Kid, Every Day: Food to Grow, Learn, and Thrive
We are grateful that the Governor continues to prioritize and invest in our children by fully funding the California Universal School Meals program and maintaining support for SUN Bucks, which helps families buy food during the summer months when school is out. The Governor included an additional $2.8 Million in the Prop 98 General Fund to fully fund the Universal School Meals Program in the 2026-27 school year. These programs are critical for children and families facing rising food costs and growing economic uncertainty due to the harmful effects of federal legislation. Together, Universal School Meals and SUN Bucks help ensure children have access to nutritious food year-round, reducing hunger and supporting their health, learning, and wellbeing.
Summary: May revision continues to prioritize school meals for school aged children by making critical investments in Universal School Meals and SUN Bucks programs.
Ask: As California continues to invest in school meals, we must also ensure students have enough time to eat to fully benefit from these investments. Through our community conversations with students and parents across the state, families consistently shared concerns about long lunch lines, limited seated time, and students skipping meals because they do not have enough time to eat. We are grateful for this Administration’s continued commitment to school meals, and we urge state leaders to protect and strengthen these programs as families continue to face fear, hardship, and harmful federal actions that threaten food security in our communities.
Contact: Angeles Nelson at angeles@nourishca.org
Thriving Transitions Campaign: Transitions Are Hard. Support Helps.
The May revision acknowledges that HR 1 will create a significant new county workload tied to CalFresh Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents requirements, yet it stops short of addressing the deeper human and systemic consequences these changes will have on Californians returning home from incarceration.
As a state, we have spent years working to strengthen re-entry pathways through initiatives that recognize stability, dignity, and access to food as foundational to successful transitions home. Without meaningful action to address the accelerated timelines and barriers created by HR 1, these federal changes threaten to undermine hard-fought progress and place more Californians at risk of hunger, instability, and unnecessary system involvement.
Thriving Transitions believes that when systems fail to recognize the humanity and realities of the people they engage with, they weaken progress across every other investment the state has made in public safety, health, housing, and economic mobility. Policies that leave some communities more vulnerable ultimately reduce stability throughout the state.
Note: We are working with re-entry partners to analyze May revision budget allocations related to re-entry investments and will update this section when more analysis becomes available.
Contact: Kameron Mims-Jones at kameron@nourishca.org
Other Key Budget Highlights
CalFood: The May revision includes one-time $30M in additional funding for the CalFood program, which provides food banks resources to serve a record 6 million Californians each month. This allocation supplements the existing $8M in ongoing funding for CalFood. While this augmentation is critical there is a growing need due to the compounding impacts of HR 1, rising food and gas prices, and attacks on immigrant communities. The California Association of Food Banks is advocating for a $60M ongoing and $50M one-time funding for CalFood for food banks to continue to serve Californians facing food insecurity.
CalFresh County Administration: The May revision includes a one-time $30M funding for County administration to help CalFresh participants navigate the unnecessarily complex, and inequitable work time-limit requirements re-introduced by HR 1. The County Welfare Directors Association of California alongside statewide partners are requesting $73M in additional one-time funding and $58 million ongoing to support the hiring of eligibility workers and new screening requirements for exemptions.
CalWORKs: The May revision maintains funding for the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program and includes a 1.8% increase to the CalWORKs Maximum Aid Payment (MAP) levels, which will go into effect on October 1, 2026. This MAP level increase is estimated to cost $59.5M in FY 2026-2027, funded through the Child Poverty and Family Supplemental Support Subaccount of the Local Revenue Account. CalWORKs is a critical anti-poverty program that provides modest cash assistance and services to families facing poverty, particularly Black, Latino, and Immigrant families.
Rainy Day Funds: California has a number of savings accounts to help weather economic downturns or “rainy days.” In November 2014, California voters approved Proposition 2, which revised the rules for the state’s Budget Stabilization Account (BSA), which is considered the main “rainy day” account. Prop 2 requires a set aside equal to 1.5 % of estimated General Fund (GF) revenues and an additional set aside required for capital gains revenue in a given year exceeding 8% of the GF tax revenue. From 2015-2016 to 2029-2030, half of these funds must be deposited into the rainy day fund, while the other half is used to reduce state liabilities, aka “budgetary debt.”
The state also created the The Safety Net Reserve Fund, established in the 2018-19 Budget to protect CalWORKs and Medi-Cal benefits during economic downturns but this fund was fully depleted in response to recent budget deficits. The Governor’s May revision deposits a total of $29.9B in combined reserves in many of these rainy day funds at the end of 2026-2027. For more details about reserves allocation amounts, see the California Budget and Policy Center’s First Look at the Governor’s May revision.
What comes next?
The Senate and the Assembly are now holding hearings to discuss areas of misalignment between their budget proposals and the Governor’s May revision. The Legislature must pass a budget by June 15th, a state constitutional rule that Legislators forfeit their pay for every day they don’t pass a budget.
Once the Legislature approves the budget, the Governor can sign the budget for immediate enactment or veto individual items. By law, the final budget must be enacted by July 1. Now is the time to contact your legislators to urge them to prioritize our food safety-net. Subscribe to our action alerts to stay informed and take action.
