Governor Newsom Signs 2025-26 Budget

On Friday, Governor Newsom signed the Budget Act of 2025. The California Association of Food Banks and our network of food banks are deeply grateful to the Legislature and the Governor for prioritizing inclusion of $60M for CalFood — a critical anti-hunger program that enables food banks to purchase California grown foods to distribute to people experiencing hunger.

And while food banks are reporting serving record demand, over $100M in federally funded food has been permanently canceled, and Congress is proposing the biggest cuts to SNAP (CalFresh) in the program’s history.

For the second year in a row, food banks across the state are collectively serving 6 million Californians each month – this is compared to the 4.5 million people that food banks were serving during the height of the pandemic in 2021. It is clear that food insecurity is still on the rise, with the soaring cost of groceries and other basic needs. Between 2020 and 2024 alone, the cost of food in the U.S. increased by a shocking 23.6%. This has resulted in a staggering 1 in 4 people today taking on debt to pay for food.

We thank Sen. Laird and Asm. Nguyen — our budget champions — for their extraordinary leadership in securing CalFood as a top priority in the Legislature throughout tough budget negotiations this year:

“The advocacy work of Sen. Laird and Asm. Nguyen is commendable and has affected strong change across California’s communities, businesses, agriculture entities and most importantly, those experiencing food insecurity. We thank them for their alliance and dedication to supporting our organization and its programs.”

–Stacia Hill Levenfeld, CEO, California Association of Food Banks

We also commend Governor Newsom, Speaker Rivas, Pro Tem McGuire, Budget Chairs Senator Wiener and Assemblymember Gabriel, Human Services Budget Subcommittee Chairs Senator Weber-Pierson and Assemblymember Jackson for their commitment to prioritizing Californians experiencing hunger and poverty today. In particular, we celebrate the inclusion of investments for several key anti-hunger and anti-poverty programs:

• CalFood
  • $60M one-time, to support the purchase of California-grown and produced food by California food banks. 
• Food4All
  • Maintains the implementation timeline to expand the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP)  for older adults 55+ regardless of immigration status, by October 2027.
• School Meals for All
  • Maintains School Meals for All with an additional $90.7M, and invests $160M for the Universal School Meals Support Grant, for kitchen infrastructure upgrades and staffing.
• SUN Bucks (Summer EBT)
  • Provides $43.8M for implementation, and requires Local Education Agencies (LEAs) to determine children’s eligibility for SUN Bucks if they attend a school that participates in the National School Lunch Program or School Breakfast Program. 
• Diaper Banks
  • Invests $7.4M to continue funding local diaper distributions for low-income families with infants and toddlers, for 11 food banks and community organizations.
• CalWORKs
  • Includes a package of reforms to reimagine CalWORKs to be family-centered and an exit from poverty.

We also recognize the deep harm to equitable health access that this budget will cause, particularly to undocumented Californians. The enrollment freeze for this population, imposition of new $30 premiums, and cuts to dental benefits will impact many of the same families that food banks serve today. Throughout this challenging budget year, we have been fortunate to work alongside our member food banks, anti-hunger partners, and advocates across California to uplift many of the priorities included in the final State budget. We thank the over 115 organizations representing all corners of California for joining us in our CalFood campaign, as well as the Governor and Legislature for listening to our communities and maintaining key anti-hunger investments.