Food insecurity survey.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary and digest do not provide information on the use of survey results or potential penalties, leaving these points as unknowns.

Food Insecurity Survey

This law requires California's Department of Social Services to conduct an annual statewide survey on food insecurity and make the results public.

What This Bill Does

• Requires the State Department of Social Services to do a yearly survey about food insecurity in California.
• The first survey must be finished by July 1, 2028.
• After that, the department has to put the survey results on their website by October 1 each year.
• Allows the department to work with research groups or other companies to do the surveys.
• Does not allow a state food insecurity survey if there is already a federal one in the same year.

Who It Names or Affects

• The State Department of Social Services
• People who are affected by food insecurity

Terms To Know

Food Insecurity

Not having enough healthy food because you don't have enough money or other resources.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not say how the survey results will be used.
• It is unclear if there are any penalties for not following this law.

Official Summary Text

AB 1618, as amended, Rogers.
Food insecurity survey.
Existing law establishes various food assistance programs, including, among others, the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known in California as CalFresh, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county.
Existing law declares that it is the established policy of the state that every human being has the right to access sufficient affordable and healthy food. Existing law defines “food insecurity” to mean the occasional or constant lack of access to the food one needs to live a healthy life and the uncertainty of being able to acquire enough food to meet the needs of an individual or household due to insufficient money or other resources.
This bill would require the
State Department of Social Services to annually conduct a statewide survey to assess food insecurity in the state, modeled after a specified federal survey. The bill would require the first statewide food insecurity survey to be completed on or before July 1,
2027.
2028.
The bill would require the department, on or before October 1,
2027,
2028,
and annually thereafter, to make the results of the statewide food insecurity survey publicly available on its internet website.
The bill would authorize the department to collaborate or contract with a public
research institution or other external vendor to implement these provisions.
The bill would prohibit the department from conducting a statewide food insecurity survey during a year in which a federal food security survey is conducted, as specified.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF