BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE HUMAN
SERVICES COMMITTEE
Senator Jim Beall, Chair
BILL NO: AB 2115
A
AUTHOR: Bradford
B
VERSION: May 8, 2014
HEARING DATE: June 10, 2014
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FISCAL: Yes
1
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CONSULTANT: Mareva Brown
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SUBJECT
CalFresh: school meals
SUMMARY
This bill adds information about school-based and other
nutritional assistance programs to the required list of
emergency food assistance providers that must be compiled
and made available by counties to families applying for
CalFresh benefits. It also requires that applicants for
CalFresh benefits with children be provided information
about how to apply for the WIC program.
ABSTRACT
Existing law:
1) Establishes under federal law the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which is
administered in California through the CalFresh
Program to low-income families and individuals meeting
specified criteria. (WIC 18900 et seq.)
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2) Establishes, under federal law, eligibility
requirements for receipt of SNAP benefits, including
income that is at or below 130 percent of the Federal
Poverty Level (FPL) and is determined to be a
substantial limiting factor in permitting a recipient
to obtain a more nutritious diet, as specified. (7 CFR
273.9)
3) Provides that any child who is eligible for federal
SNAP benefits is automatically certified to receive
free school meals without an additional application.
(7 U.S.C. 2020(u)(2)(A)).
4) Requires a CalFresh application to be processed
within 30 days from the date of application, and
requires county welfare departments to make
information related to expedited CalFresh benefits, as
specified, available to each applicant upon an initial
application for CalFresh. (WIC 18911 (a-c))
5) Requires each county welfare department to compile
a list of emergency food providers in the area served
by the CalFresh office. Requires the list to be made
available upon request and may be used to refer
individuals to emergency food assistance sites. (WIC
18911 (e))
This bill:
1) Adds to the required listing of emergency food
providers a list of supplemental food assistance
providers, including local nutrition assistance
programs, as specified.
2) Requires that the list be updated based on
information that the county human service agency is
provided from emergency and supplemental food
assistance providers, cities, school districts, summer
lunch providers, the California Department of
Education, and the California Special Supplemental
Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children
(WIC Program).
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3) Requires that the list be made available to all
households applying for CalFresh benefits, rather than
upon request.
4) Requires a county human services agency to provide
an applicant household that has children with
information about how to enroll the children in the
WIC Program and the National School Lunch and School
Breakfast Programs while the CalFresh application is
pending.
5) Requires the county human services agency to inform
the applicant that if the household is certified for
CalFresh, children under five years of age in the
household are income-eligible for the WIC Program, as
specified, and all children in the household are
directly certified for the National School Lunch and
School Breakfast Programs without further application.
FISCAL IMPACT
The Assembly Committee on Appropriations calculated this
bill would incur minor CalFresh state and county
administrative costs for counties to update their emergency
food provider lists and provide information to applicant
families with children.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Purpose of the bill:
The author states that this bill is intended to reduce the
incidence of child hunger by ensuring that families with
children are supported with referrals to federally funded
child nutrition programs when they disclose the need for
food assistance to the county CalFresh office.
Food insecurity
According to data from the UCLA Center for Health Policy
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Research's California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), at
least 4 million low-income Californians struggled with food
insecurity during 2011-12. Researchers find that
food-insecure adults face higher risks of chronic diseases,
such as diabetes, hypertension and depression and poor
mental health. Food-insecure children had poorer academic
outcomes.<1> In 2011-12, UCLA reported that 14.5 percent of
Californians earning less than 200 percent of the federal
poverty level reported very low food security, and had to
cut back on food, or skip meals.
CalFresh
Administered in California as CalFresh, the U.S. Department
of Agriculture's (USDA) Supplemental Nutritional Assistance
Program funds 100 percent of food benefits to eligible
households nationwide. The state, counties and federal
government share the cost of administering the program.
Specific eligibility requirements are set by the USDA,
including gross- and net-income asset tests for most
recipients, work requirements and specific documentation
requirements. The maximum gross income allowed to be
eligible is 130 percent of the federal poverty level, or
$23,850 for a family of four in 2014.<2> The average
monthly benefit for a CalFresh recipient is $153.13 per
month, or $5.10 per day.
More than 1 million people were added to the CalFresh
caseload between 2010 and 2013, at the peak of the Great
Recession. Nonetheless, California has been ranked last in
the country for years in SNAP participation rates,
prompting concerns from the USDA and two Legislative
hearings in 2014, including a joint Senate and Assembly
Human Services committee hearing on March 11. Just 57
percent of eligible individuals were enrolled in the
program, compared to a national average of 79 percent in
2011. Just 44 percent of California's eligible working poor
families received CalFresh benefits, while the national
average was 67 percent. DSS notes that every $5 of federal
SNAP benefits are calculated to generate $9 of local
economic activity.
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<1> http://cfpa.net/food-insecurity-2013
<2> http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/14poverty.cfm
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WIC Program
WIC is a federally-funded health and nutrition program for
women, infants, and children. It provides funds to purchase
healthy supplemental foods from WIC-authorized vendors,
provides nutrition education, and offers help finding
healthcare and other community services. In order to be
eligible, pregnant women or mothers of children up to age
five must meet income guidelines. In California, 84 WIC
agencies provide services locally to more 1.45 million
participants each month at over 650 sites throughout the
state, according to the state Department of Public Health,
which oversees the program.
PRIOR VOTES
Assembly Floor 78 - 0
Assembly Appropriations 17 - 0
Assembly Human Services 7 - 0
POSITIONS
Support: Western Center on Law and Poverty (sponsor)
American Academy of Pediatrics
California Association of Food Banks
California Catholic Conference, Inc.
California Food Policy Advocates
California End Hunger Coalition
California WIC Association
Feeding America
Hunger Action Los Angeles
Los Angeles Regional Food Bank
National Association of Social Workers -
California Chapter
Oppose: None received
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