BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2115
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 9, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 2115 (Bradford) - As Amended: April 1, 2014
Policy Committee: Human
ServicesVote:7 - 0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill adds information about school-based nutrition programs
and other programs intended to serve children to the information
counties are required to provide to households applying for
CalFresh benefits. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires a county human services agency to include local child
feeding and summer feeding programs to the list of emergency
food providers they are currently required to compile, and
adds cities and school districts to the sources required to be
used when updating the list.
2)Requires the list of emergency food providers to be made
available to households applying for CalFresh and deletes the
requirement for households to receive the information upon
request.
3)Requires a county human services agency to provide an
applicant household with children information about how to
enroll in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast
Programs while the household's CalFresh application is
pending, and to inform the household if the household is
certified for CalFresh, all children in the household are
directly certified for the National School Lunch and School
Breakfast Programs without further application.
FISCAL EFFECT
Minor CalFresh state/county administrative costs for counties to
update their emergency food provider lists and provide
information to applicant families with children.
AB 2115
Page 2
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . This bill seeks to make existing child nutrition
programs more accessible to families with children by
guaranteeing they receive information about existing programs,
including application and eligibility requirements, upon
seeking food assistance benefits at the county CalFresh
office.
2)Background . CalFresh benefits are funded entirely by the
federal government through the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP), and the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) sets specific eligibility requirements for
SNAP programs across the United States. The maximum allowable
gross income is 130% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). The
CalFresh program is administered by counties. CalFresh
administrative costs are split among the federal government
(50%), the state (35%) and counties (15%).
Public and non-profit private schools can choose to
participate in the National School Breakfast and School Lunch
Programs. Both programs provide schools with cash subsidies
from the USDA for each meal served. Children from families who
meet federal SNAP guidelines are eligible for free meals
through the national school meals programs. If their
household incomes are between 130% and 185% of the poverty
level, they are eligible for reducedprice meals, for which
students can be charged no more than 40 cents.
Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081