Hunger Legislation Tracker - California Association of Food Banks

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For CAFB’s full 2025 Policy Agenda and state budget priorities, go to our Policy Page.

CalFresh Bills (2025):

AB 777 (C. Rodriguez) – CalFresh and Disasters

This Bill would improve California’s ability to provide Disaster CalFresh and other disaster-related CalFresh provisions during natural disasters.

Sponsor(s): California Association of Food Banks, GRACE/End Child Poverty CA

Position: Support

Status: Referred to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations, On Consent Calendar

Bill Text | Factsheet | Template LOS for Asm. Appropriations (due 5/9)

AB 1211 (Sharp-Collins) – CalFresh Benefit Maintenance

This bill would ensure that CalFresh benefits do not decrease if the federal government makes reductions to the federal SNAP program.

Sponsor(s): GRACE/End Child Poverty CA, Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organization (CCWRO), SEIU California

Position: Support

Status: Referred to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations, Suspense File

Bill Text | Factsheet | Template LOS to Appropriations Committee (due 5/9)

AB 1049 (Rodriguez) – California Food Assistance Program – Sponsor Deeming

This bill would remove sponsor deeming from the California Food Assistance Program as part of the Food4All campaign.

Sponsor(s): Nourish California, California Immigrant Policy Center

Position: Support

Status: Referred to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations, Suspense File

Bill Text | Factsheet | Template LOS to Appropriations Committee (due 5/9)

SB 761 (Ashby) – CalFresh Student Eligibility

This bill would streamline the application process for many college students applying for CalFresh.

Sponsor(s):

Position: Support

Status: Referred to the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Suspense File (5/23)

Bill Text | Complete this Letter of Support Sign-On Form

SJR 3 (Arreguín) – SNAP Resolution

This measure would urge the United States Congress to avoid any cuts to SNAP (CalFresh) which could harm the state’s children, older adults, and families, and impact the state’s economic well-being.

Sponsor(s):

Position: Support

Status: In the Assembly.

Resolution Text | Template LOS to Human Services Committee (due 4/15 at noon)

School/Summer Meals Bills (2025):

SB 225 (McNerney) – Caregiver Meals

This bill would ensure parents and caregivers can have a meal with their child when they visit a summer meal site by requiring the State Department of Education to reimburse summer meal program operators for caregiver meals.

Sponsor(s): California Association of Food Banks

Position: Support

Status: Referred to the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Suspense File (5/23)

Bill Text | Factsheet | Template LOS for Appropriations Committee (due 5/9)

SB 411 (Perez) – Stop Child Hunger Act

This bill would fight child hunger by creating a single statewide SUN Bucks application website and establishing the BOOST Nutrition benefit to provide food support during school breaks and emergencies.

Sponsor(s): California Association of Food Banks, GRACE/End Child Poverty CA, SEIU California

Position: Support

Status: Referred to the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Suspense File (5/23)

Bill Text | Factsheet | Template LOS for Appropriation Committee (due 5/9)

SB 48 (Gonzalez) – Safe Access to Schools

This bill aims to keep U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents off California campuses by establishing a one-mile radius safe zone around schools, as well as safeguarding against the use of school data for deportation efforts.

Sponsor(s): State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond

Position: Support

Status: Referred to the Senate Committee on Appropriations (Hearing 5/23)

Bill Text | Factsheet | Template LOS for Committee on Appropriations (due 5/9)

Public Benefits Bills (2025):

AB 79 (Arambula) – Public Benefits & Higher Education County Liaisons

This bill establishes a statewide knowledge sharing network of basic needs coordinators on college campuses and county liaisons of higher education to improve awareness of public benefit programs like CalFresh and CalWORKs among college students.

Sponsor(s): California Association of Food Banks, Center for Healthy Communities, Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organization, UAspire, The Michelson Center for Public Policy

Position: Support

Status: Referred to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, Suspense File

Bill Text | Factsheet | Organizational LOS Template (due 5/9) | Individual Email Template (due 5/9)

AB 1161 (Harabedian) – Public Benefits during Disasters

This bill would require CDSS and DHCS to provide continuous eligibility for public benefit programs like CalFresh to a recipient who has been displaced by or impacted by a state of emergency or a health emergency.

Sponsor(s): Western Center on Law & Poverty

Position: Support

Status: Referred to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations (Hearing 4/21)

Bill Text | Factsheet | Template LOS for Committee on Appropriations (due 5/9)

AB 42 (Bryan) – Protect Scholarship Income

This bill ensures that grants, awards, scholarships, loans, or fellowship benefits for education are exempt from consideration as income for purposes of determining eligibility and calculating grant amounts for CalWORKs and CalFresh benefits.

Sponsor(s): Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organization, UAspire, Western Center on Law and Poverty

Position: Support

Status: Referred to the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Suspense File

Bill Text | Factsheet | Template LOS for Committee on Appropriations (due 5/9)

SB 560 (Smallwood- Cuevas) – Decriminalize Benefit Overpayments

This bill would authorize counties to process public benefits overpayments like CalFresh through their administrative penalty system. By updating the law so overpayment cases can be handled administratively, county workers will be empowered to ensure reporting paperwork is corrected and overpayments are repaid, without traumatizing and destabilizing vulnerable families.

Sponsor(s): Western Center on Law and Poverty, SEIU California

Position: Support

Status: Referred to the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Suspense File (5/23)

Bill Text | Factsheet | Template LOS for Committee on Appropriations (due 5/9)

Anti-Hunger Bills (2025):

AB 337 (Bennett) – Edible Food Recovery Grants

This bill would expand the current list for which CalRecycle can award grants through their edible food recovery program.

Sponsor(s): N/A

Position: Support

Status: Referred to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations, Suspense File

Bill Text | Factsheet | Template LOS for Committee on Appropriations (due 5/9)

SB 353 (Alvarado-Gil) – Food Donation Tax Credit

This bill would extend indefinitely the Food Donation Tax Credit, which is currently set to expire in 2027.

Sponsor(s): N/A

Position: Support

Status: Referred to the Senate Committee on Appropriations (Hearing 5/19)

Bill Text | Factsheet | Sign-On letter (due 5/6)

Anti-Poverty Bills (2025):

AB 636 (Ortega) – Expand Diaper Access Under Medi-Cal

This bill would expand access to prescription diapers for Medi-Cal recipients by dropping the qualifying age for “incontinence” from five to three.

Sponsor(s): California Association of Food Banks, GRACE/End Child Poverty CA, National Diaper Bank Network

Position: Support

Status: Referred to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations, Suspense File

Bill Text | Factsheet | Organizational LOS Template (due 5/9) | Individual Email Template (due 5/9)

AB 397 (Gonzalez) – Young Child Tax Credit

This bill would expand who is eligible for the Young Child Tax Credit to all CAL-EITC eligible households.

Sponsor(s): Prosper California Coalition

Position: Support

Status: In the Assembly Appropriations Committee (Hearing 5/21)

Bill Text | Factsheet | Template LOS for Committee on Appropriations (due 5/9)

AB 398 (Ahrens) – Earned Income Tax Credit

This bill would ensure any household eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit gets at minimum $300.

Sponsor(s): Prosper California Coalition

Position: Support

Status: In the Assembly Appropriations Committee (Hearing 5/21)

Bill Text | Factsheet | Template LOS for Committee on Appropriations (due 5/9)

AB 661 (Lee) – Guaranteed Income Research and Expansion Act

This bill proposes a comprehensive study on the needed infrastructure, funding mechanisms, program design, and population prioritization for a permanent, statewide guaranteed income program to alleviate poverty and promote economic empowerment.

Sponsor(s): Western Center on Law and Poverty, GRACE & End Child Poverty CA, National Council of Jewish Women/Los Angeles

Position: Support

Status: Referred to Assembly Committee on Appropriations, Suspense File

Bill Text | Factsheet | Template LOS for Committee on Appropriations (due 5/9)

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