Policy & Advocacy
The San Diego Hunger Coalition stands with the nearly one million San Diegans experiencing nutrition insecurity and the more than 500 nonprofit organizations, schools/universities, and elected officials working to connect people to food.
SDHC 2025 Legislative Priorities
Creating a Hunger Free San Diego requires clearing obstacles and driving government policies to make food assistance programs work better for everyone. Below are the state and federal bills that the Hunger Coalition has identified as moving the needle to end hunger in our region.
Calfresh: 2025 California State Bills & Budget Items
AB 79 (Arambula)—Public social services: higher education
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This bill requires the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) to develop a training for basic needs directors and coordinators from campuses of the California Community Colleges (CCC), the California State University (CSU), and the University of California (UC), and requires CDSS to convene a working group to identify and address barriers to student enrollment in social services offered by county human service agencies.
AB 777 (C.Rodriguez) — Food assistance: disasters: utilities
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Requires the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) to maximize the amount of assistance through the federal Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP) during disasters and provides for information-sharing requirements between CDSS and utilities to seek automated mass replacement of federally funded nutrition assistance programs. Specifically, this bill:
1) Requires each utility to timely respond to data requests by CDSS.
2) Requires the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to establish any memorandums of understanding (MOUs) or other data sharing agreements necessary, to direct utilities to provide data to CDSS to maximize the food assistance available pursuant to 6) below.
3) Requires each utility to have a dedicated point of contact for CDSS and establish any MOUs or other data-sharing agreements necessary to provide the requested data.
4) Requires the CPUC to provide technical assistance to CDSS, including, but not limited to, technical assistance to support the report described in 8) below.
5) Defines, for purposes of these provisions, “utility” to mean an electrical corporation, a gas corporation, a water corporation, or a local publicly owned electric utility, as defined in 11) below, serving California customers.
6) Requires CDSS to maximize the amount of assistance requested and received through the D-SNAP and all other federally funded nutrition assistance programs, including utilizing necessary data, provided in accordance with 1) through 5) above, in order for CDSS to timely seek automated mass replacement of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, D-SNAP, the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children (Summer EBT) program, known in California as SUN Bucks, and any other federally funded nutrition assistance programs.
7) Requires CDSS to maintain at least one dedicated point of contact with each utility to act as liaison with the utilities in accordance with 1) through 5) above.
8) Requires CDSS, on or before December 31, 2026, to submit a report to the Legislature that includes: any further ways to ensure that California maximizes all available federal food assistance during state and federally declared disasters, public health emergencies, or other crises that enable the provision of resources to California households; and, any additional oversight or actions needed to fulfill the objectives of these provisions and those in existing law related to county disaster plans.
AB 936 (Lee) — CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable Supplemental Benefits Program
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Specifically, this bill:
1) Renames the California Fruit and Vegetable EBT Pilot Project as the CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable Supplemental Benefits Program, and deletes the January 1, 2027, sunset date.
2) Requires CDSS to provide grants to support the supplemental benefits mechanism in existing retail settings.
3) Strikes the requirement that a minimum of three grants be awarded to nonprofit organizations or government agencies and, instead, allows any number of grants to be awarded.
4) Strikes the requirement that at least one of the grants provide the ability to test the supplemental benefit mechanism at farmers’ markets, and strikes related provisions.
5) Strikes provisions related to data collection for purposes of evaluating the pilot project.
6) Requires CDSS, when grantees propose adding additional retail locations into the program, to prioritize those retail locations that offer a broad variety, and high quality, of fresh fruits and vegetables, serve geographically and culturally diverse areas and high-CalFresh-use areas, among other criteria, as specified.
7) Specifies a funding allocation framework for authorized retailers and requires CDSS, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to allocate funds according to that framework, including funds sufficient to cover CDSS’ and grantee administrative costs and “baseline funding” sufficient to cover the cost of anticipated benefits for 12 months, as specified. The remaining funds must be allocated between small and large retailers, ensuring small retailers can access the program.
8) Allows CDSS, notwithstanding item 7, above, to relocate funds if CDSS determines there is a lack of acceptable applications for a particular category of authorized retailers, as specified.
9) Requires CDSS to quarterly publish, on its internet website, data on program utilization, as specified.
AB 1049 (C.Rodriguez)—California Food Assistance Program
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This bill specifies that federal sponsor-deeming rules and exemptions governing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known as CalFresh in California, do not apply to the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP).
Specifically, this bill:
1) Deletes existing law requiring federal sponsor-deeming rules and exemptions governing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known as CalFresh in California, to also govern the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP).
2) Instead, explicitly specifies that federal sponsor-deeming rules and exemptions governing SNAP do not apply to CFAP.
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If federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits (known as CalFresh in California) fall below a specified threshold, this bill requires the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) to use state funds to ensure CalFresh benefits remain at least at the level in effect on January 1, 2025. This bill also requires CDSS to conduct a feasibility study on increasing eligibility and benefits of the CalFresh program.
Specifically, this bill:
1) If the federal government reduces benefits under SNAP that would result in CalFresh benefits falling below the level of CalFresh benefits in effect on January 20, 2025, under the federal Thrifty Food Plan, requires CDSS to ensure the level of CalFresh benefits remains at least at the level in effect on January 20, 2025.
2) If federal funding is insufficient when combined with the nonfederal share to maintain the level of CalFresh benefits as described in item 1, above, requires CDSS to implement these provisions using state funds, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature.
3) Defines “Thrifty Food Plan” as the lowest cost among the food plans designed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to determine SNAP benefit amounts.
4) Requires CDSS to conduct a feasibility study on increasing the eligibility and benefits of the CalFresh program and to prepare and submit a one-time report on the findings to the relevant policy committees of the Legislature and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee by January 1, 2027.
Child Nutrition: 2025 California State Bills & Budget Items
SB 225 (McNerney) — School nutrition: guardian meal reimbursement
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This bill requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to establish a reimbursement process for federal summer meal program operators for meals served to guardians of eligible pupils who participate in a summer meal program.
SB 411 (Pérez)—Stop Child Hunger Act of 2025
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This bill, subject to an appropriation, would create two school nutrition programs—one administered by the California Department of Education (CDE) for local educational agencies (LEAs) to provide meals to students during school breaks or closures lasting longer than five school days, and the other administered by the Department of Social Services (DSS) which would provide Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards to students during school breaks or closures that last longer than five schooldays. This bill also requires CDE to develop a statewide application that is made available through a single statewide website that enables families to submit federally required information for meal eligibility, as specified.
SB 764 (Weber Pierson)—Chain restaurants: children’s meals
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Require a chain restaurant, as defined, that sells a children’s meal, to offer at least one children’s meal that meets specified nutrition standards.
Prohibit the children’s meal required to be offered from containing more than any of the following:
550 calories, 700 milligrams of sodium, 10 percent of calories from saturated fat, 15 grams of added sugar and Zero grams of trans fat
Require the children’s meal required to be offered to include at least two of the following servings:
A serving of one-half cup or more of fruit
A serving of one-half cup or more of vegetables
A serving of one-half cup or more nonfat or low-fat dairy
A serving of eight of more grams of whole grains that meets at least one of the following:
The serving contains 50 percent or more of whole grain ingredients
The first ingredient in the serving’s ingredient list, in descending order of predominance, is whole grains
A serving of meat or a meat alternative equal to at least one of the following:
One ounce of meat, poultry, or seafood
One egg
One-fourth of a cup of soy products or pulses, including beans, peas, or lentils
Two tablespoons of nut butter
One ounce of nuts and seeds
Require a chain restaurant that sells a children’s meal to train employees on how to comply with the requirements of this bill on or before July 1, 2026, and to offer ongoing training to all new employees.
Require a local enforcement agency to provide written notice of the bill’s requirements, on or before April 1, 2026, to chain restaurants that sell a children’s meal.
AB 802 (Sharp-Collins)—Juvenile justice commission: hunger survey
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This bill requires each county juvenile justice commission to conduct, at least once every 24 months, a survey about hunger among youth in county detention facilities and make related county policy recommendations.
Specifically, among other provisions, the bill:
1) Requires a juvenile justice commission to administer the survey or work with a local community-based organization to administer the survey.
2) Requires the survey to seek to determine whether confined youth are chronically or often hungry, whether confined youth have regular access to food between meals, whether confined youth have adequate time for meals, and the quality of the food confined youth are provided.
3) If a survey indicates youth are often or chronically hungry, requires a juvenile justice commission to make recommendations for changes to county policies to address the hunger.
4) Requires each county to publish the results of each survey, any related recommendations made by a juvenile justice commission, and a description of the remedial or corrective actions taken in response to commission recommendations.
SDHC 2024 Legislative Priorities
Creating a Hunger Free San Diego requires clearing obstacles and driving government policies to make food assistance programs work better for everyone. Below are the state and federal bills that the Hunger Coalition has identified as moving the needle to end hunger in our region.
CalFresh
School Meals
Federal School Meals Bills - Check back for updates at a later date
Additional Hunger Relief Efforts
Calfresh: 2024 California State Bills & Budget Items
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Currently, many immigrants are excluded from CalFresh and the state-funded California Food Assistance Program (CFAP). Federal laws exclude undocumented immigrants, DACA recipients, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, and certain visa holders from CalFresh. Food4All would expand CFAP eligibility to anyone excluded from CalFresh solely due to their immigration status.
• Intersection: Immigration Rights
San Diego Hunger Coalition Letter of Support for AB 311 sent to Human Services Committee
San Diego Hunger Coalition Letter of Support for SB 245 sent to Human Services Committee
AB 2033 (Reyes)—EBT on College Campuses
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• AB 2033 would make it possible for students to use their Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards in at least one location in college campuses across California’s three systems of public higher education. The bill would also ensure that students have easily accessible information on EBT vendors on and off campus so that they know where they can use their food benefits.
• Letter of Support Template to Human Services Committee (Due 4/9)
AB 3229 (Lee)—CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable Supplemental Benefits (Budget and Bill Request)
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This proposal would allocate new state funding to continue the CalFresh Fruit & Veggie EBT pilot project. This pilot is now operating at several locations across the state and provides a penny-for-penny CalFresh matching supplemental benefits all through the EBT system when people purchase fresh fruits and vegetables at a participating retailer. Those supplemental EBT benefits can then be spent by the CalFresh shopper anytime at any CalFresh retailer for any CalFresh-allowable purchase (bread, milk, cheese, whatever the household needs).
AB 3229 seeks to speed up the "scoping plan" that CDSS is required to provide that will outline the resources and capacity it needs to support an expanded program and become the "front door" for retailers (rather than having non-profit intermediaries, like SPUR, UC San Diego, and the Ecology Center play that role). Specifically, it calls for that report to be provided by the end of this year, moving the deadline up from March 2026.
• Intersection: Food Systems
AB 2150 (Arambula)—Public social services: higher education
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• Students should be supported by social services tailored to their unique needs. AB 2150 establishes a statewide knowledge sharing network of basic needs coordinators and county liaisons of higher education. AB 1326 (Arambula, 2021) requires every county to appoint at least one employee to serve as a county liaison of higher education. However, there is strong demand for regular meetings and coordination between all stakeholders to ensure that all students receive support
• Intersection: College Hunger
AB 274 (Bryan) –CalWORKs: CalFresh: eligibility: income exclusions
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• Currently, private scholarships are considered to be counted towards income and prorated for college students. It is confusing and convoluted to promote the educational expense deduction while also trying to count only private scholarships as income.
• Intersection: College Hunger
SB 1254 (Becker)—The F.R.E.S.H Act
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SB 1254 - the Food for Re-entry and Ensuring Stable Homes (FRESH) Act - will allow and assist incarcerated people in applying for CalFresh benefits up to 90 days before their release to better prepare them for reentry. The bill will also create a workgroup within the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) to begin recommendations for a statewide reentry process.
AB 1975 (Bonta)—Medically Supportive Food and Nutrition
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• AB 1975 will transition MSF&N services to permanent benefits ensuring access to all eligible Medi-Cal recipients. Medically supportive food and nutrition (MSF&N) interventions, commonly known as “food as medicine,” are food-based interventions integrated into healthcare used to prevent and treat medical conditions. The spectrum of medically supportive food and nutrition interventions includes medically tailored meals, medically supportive meals, food pharmacies, medically tailored groceries, medically supportive groceries, produce prescriptions and nutrition supports when paired with the provision of food. Providing the full spectrum of food-based services allows a medical provider to match the acuity of a patient’s condition to the intensity of the intervention. AB 1975 sets up the transition of MSF&N services from pilot to permanent in two phases
AB 2241 (Alvarez)— Simplifying Public Benefits Reporting
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• A number of counties refuse to accept reports of changes of income or other circumstances of public benefit beneficiaries and requested verification through email. This ends up beneficiaries being accused to failure to report changes that often lead to referral for welfare fraud and overpayments.
Current law requires by CalWORKs and CalFfresh beneficiaries report to the county when their income exceeds the “income reporting threshold” to avoid overpayments.1 Counties receive 12.5% incentive payments for collecting overpayments that were allegedly caused by fraud.2
Counties also deny applications for failure to provide verification, also known as “procedural reasons”.
AB 1967 (Jackson)—Food Insecurity Officer
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The Food Insecurity Officer will focus on increasing enrollment for seniors, families with children, individuals leaving incarceration, and formerly incarcerated individuals.
The Food Insecurity Officer will have a position similar to the County Liaison for colleges in San Diego.
AB 1968 (Jackson)—CalFresh : Enrollment for Senior Citizens
2024 Federal CalFresh Bills
H.R.1510 (Lee and Adams)—Improving Access to Nutrition Act of 2023
H.R. 706 (Brown)—SNAP Access for Medically Vulnerable Children Act of 2023
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Currently only older adults and people with disabilities can deduct medical expenses for Calfresh. This bill adds children with chronic medical condition.
Intersections: Children
H.R. 309 (Bonamici)—Opportunity to Address College Hunger Act
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Currently students who are enrolled in at least half time are considered ineligible for SNAP unless they meet one of many exemptions, one being that they work more than 20 hours in a federal work study program, but students may not be aware that they could be eligible. This bill would require institutions of higher education to notify those students receiving work-study assistance about potential eligibility for SNAP.
Intersections: College Hunger
San Diego Cosponsors
Rep. Levin
Rep. Jacobs
Rep. Vargas
Rep. Peters
H.R. 205 (Ruppersberger)—SNAP Theft Protection Act of 2023
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Intersections: EBT Skimming
San Diego Cosponsors
Rep. Levin
Rep. Jacobs
Rep. Vargas
H.R. 3183 (Gomez)—EATS Act of 2023
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Expands eligibility to college students who are enrolled at least part time.
Intersections: College Hunger
San Diego Cosponsors
Rep. Levin
Rep. Jacobs
Rep. Vargas
Rep. Peters
H.R. 3037 (Adams)—Closing the Meal Gap Act of 2023
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Intersections: Older Adults
San Diego Cosponsors
Rep. Levin
Rep. Jacobs
H.R. 4170 (Jayapal)— Lift the Bar Act of 2023
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Under current law, immigrants with legal permanent resident (LPR) status must wait five years before being able to access critical supports like Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and SNAP/CalFresh.
Intersections: Immigrant Rights
San Diego Cosponsors
Rep. Jacobs
Rep. Levin
Rep. Peters
Rep. Vargas
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Specifically this bill will:
Increase the minimum monthly SNAP benefit for all participants
Simplify application and certification processes for eligible individuals in nutrition programs, including SNAP, and ensure they can stay enrolled in programs for longer periods of time
Support outreach efforts to enroll more older adults, grandparent and kinship caregivers, and adults with disabilities in nutrition programs
Enable adults with disabilities to participate in additional programs that provide shelf stable, supplemental food and fresh, locally sourced food
Provide grants to non-profits, local aging and disability service providers, and related organizations to bring fresh, local food to accessible locations
Expand SNAP food delivery options through public-private partnerships and strengthen retail delivery options for older adults and adults with disabilities
Intersection: Older adults
H.R. 3847 (Bonamici)— Support for SNAP Act
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The recently-passed Debt Ceiling Bill expands work requirements for some people who receive SNAP benefits, but also creates new exemptions to those work requirements for people experiencing homelessness. The Securing Unhoused Peoples’ Program for Outreach Resources and Transportation (SUPPORT) for SNAP Act will provide dedicated outreach, application aid, enrollment assistance, and access to transportation for people experiencing homelessness so they can benefit from SNAP. The SUPPORT for SNAP Act would provide the necessary funding to establish outreach programs and provide training about SNAP applications for staff who work with people experiencing homelessness. The program would be established at USDA in consultation with HUD, which has expertise on issues related to homelessness. The bill includes:
Application assistance for people who are experiencing homelessness and seeking SNAP benefits;
Street outreach activities to connect caseworkers with individuals about their potential eligibility;
Engagement with Continuums of Care, Community Action Agencies, and other organizations with experience supporting very-low income families or people experiencing homelessness;
Allowance for funding to provide transportation to SNAP offices for people who need to apply in-person because of technology access;
Funding for training on SNAP benefits, including the shelter deduction and homeless household deductions that can improve benefit values for vulnerable SNAP recipients.
Intersection: Homelessness
H.R. 1230 (Carson)— Food Deserts Act
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Underserved communities are communities that have (1) limited access to affordable, healthy foods, including fresh fruits and vegetables, in grocery retail stores or farmer-to-consumer direct markets; and (2) a high rate of hunger, a high rate of food insecurity, or a high poverty rate.
San Diego Cosponsors
Rep. Vargas
H.R. 3519 (Meng)— Hot Foods Act of 2023
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Of the more than 42 million SNAP participants nationwide, almost 70% of participants are children, elderly, or those with disabilities. The ability to purchase hot foods or hot foods ready for immediate consumption would provide enormous flexibility to those who rely on this program to supplement their nutrition and dietary needs.
San Diego Cosponsors
Rep. Vargas
Rep. Jacobs
Child Nutrition: 2024 California State Bills & Budget Items
AB 2595 (L. Rivas)—Summer Caregiver Meals Pilot
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•Currently, the Summer Food Service Program mandates that only children and teens ages 18 and younger are eligible to receive free, reimbursable meals. But if children of a food insecure household are hungry, it is likely that the parents or caregivers are also facing hunger.
In the summer, households experience an increase in grocery spending. Parents and caregivers from food insecure households who depend on free school meals for their children are more than likely unable to financially compensate for the lack of meals when their children are home.
AB 2595 will combat food insecurity, promote healthy child development, and provide families with opportunities to bond over a warm meal, by establishing a pilot for state reimbursement for federal summer meal program operators at public libraries to provide meals to parents and caregivers of children in the summer meal program.
• Intersection: Child Care
• Template Letter of Support to Asm. Appropriations Committee (due 4/9)