Plain English Breakdown
The bill text shows conflicting dates (2027 and 2028) for deadlines, with 2028 appearing as the final version; this summary uses 2028 based on the amended text structure.
AB-1618: Annual Statewide Food Insecurity Survey
This law requires the California Department of Social Services to conduct an annual statewide survey on food insecurity, modeled after a federal survey, and publish the results online.
What This Bill Does
- Requires the state department to annually conduct a statewide survey to assess food insecurity based on a specified federal model.
- Sets July 1, 2028 as the deadline for completing the first survey.
- Mandates that survey results be posted publicly on the department's website by October 1, 2028, and every year after.
- Allows the department to work with public research institutions or outside vendors to run the survey.
- Stops the state from running its own survey in any year when a federal food security survey is conducted.
Who It Names or Affects
- The California Department of Social Services
- Public research institutions and external vendors hired by the department
Terms To Know
- Food insecurity
- The occasional or constant lack of access to food needed for a healthy life, or uncertainty about getting enough food due to not having enough money.
- CalFresh
- California's name for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that provides nutrition benefits to eligible people through counties.
Limits and Unknowns
- The bill does not specify how much money will be used to pay for these surveys.
- The specific questions asked in the survey are not listed, only that it follows a federal model.
- The exact timing of future federal food security surveys is unknown.