Joint Statement: California Stakeholders Condemn Senate Budget Bill’s Historic Threat to SNAP and California Families and Workers

[SACRAMENTO, CA] — California’s SNAP stakeholders — including grocers, county administrators, labor unions, public health and anti-hunger advocates — are sounding the alarm on the Senate’s budget reconciliation bill, which, despite some modifications, still represents one of the most significant threats to food assistance in history.

While the Senate version includes slightly lesser cuts than the House version, it would nevertheless dismantle the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known as CalFresh in California. SNAP is our most effective anti-hunger program, serving more than 5.5 million Californians. The Senate’s proposed changes would jeopardize access to food for millions, increase administrative burdens, and weaken states’ ability to respond during times of crisis. More egregious than the House, the bill immediately ends the bipartisan exemptions for veterans, former foster youth, and people experiencing homelessness from SNAP’s 3-month time limit. 

A 20% cut to SNAP — as proposed in the Senate — would result in staggering harm:

• California would lose an estimated $30 billion in federal SNAP benefits over the budget window.
• The economic ripple effect would include over 406,880 jobs lost, from farmworkers and truck drivers to grocery store clerks and retail workers.
• Rural grocery stores would close, food deserts would expand, and already-overwhelmed food banks would face unsustainable demand.

This bill includes provisions that would:

• Shift the financial burden of SNAP to states and counties, eroding its status as a federal entitlement. It allows states to choose either their FY 2025 or FY 2026 SNAP payment error rate to calculate the new required state match, creating a cost shift that threatens long-term program viability.
• Immediately end bipartisan exemptions in the 2022 FRA for veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and former foster youth aging out of the system — protections that were hard-won and are currently helping tens of thousands of Californians, including 115,000 veterans who rely on CalFresh.
• Expand punitive time limits and paperwork requirements for “able-bodied” adults — now including those aged 55 to 64, and parents with school-aged children 14 and older. These failed policies cut people off due to red tape, not lack of work ethic.
• Slash benefit adequacy by mandating cost neutrality for future Thrifty Food Plan updates, ensuring benefits stay stuck at a meager $6.20 per day despite rising food costs.

Taken together, these changes would devastate California’s food system and economy, while forcing state and county governments to shoulder the fallout without additional support. It is a profound disinvestment in families, seniors, veterans, people with disabilities, and working parents.

We thank Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff for standing firmly in opposition to this harmful proposal and for being champions of SNAP. Their leadership sends a clear message that Californians deserve better — and that nutrition, dignity, and economic stability must remain a priority.

We call on the House to reject a bill with cuts or harmful changes to SNAP and instead prioritize stability, nutrition, and economic resilience. Congress must protect SNAP — not dismantle it — and ensure every Californian can afford food and live with dignity.

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Signed by/quotes from partners: 

“California food banks are already stretched thin, serving more than 6 million people each month. There is no way that food banks can make up for the amount of food households would lose as a result of these cuts to SNAP,” said Stacia Levenfeld, CEO at California Association of Food Banks. “For every meal a food bank provides, SNAP delivers nine. We urge Congress to reject these cuts and protect SNAP; a proven program that not only fights hunger, but protects jobs in our communities.”

“Make no mistake, this legislation reverses progress on decades of work to fight poverty-related hunger, and consigns our children to an unthinkable future of food insecurity,” said Shimica Gaskins, President and CEO of End Child Poverty California. “If that weren’t enough, the bill undermines pathways out of poverty by devastating our food economy, leading to store closures, food deserts, and hurting the very jobs we need to expand access to the California Dream. Thankfully, California’s Senators voted against these cruel cuts. We implore every California Member of the House – when it matters most, do the right thing for the children of your communities, and vote no.”

“Elected officials often ask how they can add grocery stores to their community. Voting to pass devastating cuts to SNAP will have the opposite effect. The proposed cuts will have a chilling effect on the wellbeing of low-income families who currently have regular access to stores where they can redeem their SNAP dollars for fresh and nutritious food,” said Leticia Garcia, Director of state Government Relations for the California Grocers Association. “In many underserved neighborhoods, SNAP recipients make up the majority of a store’s customer base. Without that support, many of these stores will be forced to close their doors. Grocery stores are economic anchors and essential sources of health and well-being. We urge congress to reject these cuts to protect SNAP and support our local communities.”

 “Senators Padilla and Schiff stood with working families, children, veterans and communities who make California strong by voting against these devastating cuts.” said Keely O’Brien, policy advocate at Western Center on Law & Poverty. “At a time when people across the U.S. are already working harder than ever just to stay afloat, this bill threatens to take food off tables, puts almost 3 million jobs at risk, and rips $220 billion dollars out of local economies to funnel even more taxpayer money to insatiable billionaires. These are not just numbers on a page — they represent lost jobs, empty refrigerators, hungry children, and stolen futures in our communities. We need all California members of Congress to stand on the side of dignity, compassion, and justice – not greed and cruelty – and vote against this bill.”

“If enacted, these cuts to the SNAP program would be devastating and have ripple effects throughout our social safety net,” said Carlos Marquez III, Executive Director of the County Welfare Directors Association of California. “Having access to fresh and nourishing food is a human right; making children and families hungry to lavish more tax breaks for the wealthy is unconscionable. Further, this cut would cut deeply into counties’ service delivery infrastructure, compromising timely access to food assistance, housing, health care, and child welfare services for the vulnerable children, families and seniors in our communities. No California member of Congress can, in good conscience, support this legislation.”

“UFCW members are proudly on the front lines of the SNAP program, helping parents and seniors buy the groceries they need for their families,” said Amber Parrish, Executive Director, UFCW Western States Council. “Make no mistake, these cuts will not only worsen hunger, but by taking away critical grocery resources, they will cut the very fabric of our food economy. It’s a double gut punch: workers will lose their jobs as families cannot afford food, and then SNAP food assistance won’t be there to help them as they look for their next job.”

“SEIU California represents SNAP eligibility workers as well as food system workers at retail establishments that accept SNAP payments and at school cafeterias where children receive meals, which are federally funded in an amount based on SNAP program policies.  Our workers are proud of the work they do every day to prevent hunger among children, families, veterans, the elderly, and working people who earn poverty wages from employers with CEO’s who lounge comfortably in the billionaire class. H.R.1 represents the largest cut to SNAP in history,” said Riko Mendez, Chief Elected Officer of SEIU Local 521 and Executive Board Member of SEIU California. “With over 15,000 jobs created for every $1 billion in SNAP benefits issued, this bill is expected to cost hard-working food-system workers their jobs, their livelihoods and the incomes they need to prevent hunger for themselves and their families. H.R. 1 is nothing more than greed run amok, snatching the last penny from the poorest Americans to pad the bank accounts of a disgracefully wealthy class representing less than 1% of our country’s population. It is gross and it is unamerican and the U.S. Senate should be ashamed of itself.”