CalFresh Protection Act.

Plain English Breakdown

The exact amounts and mechanisms for continuous appropriation from the General Fund are not specified in detail by the official bill summary text.

CalFresh Protection Act

The CalFresh Protection Act requires California's Department of Social Services to use state funds to continue paying CalFresh benefits if the federal government stops funding them.

What This Bill Does

• Defines a 'federal funding lapse' as when the U.S. government does not provide sufficient funds to cover SNAP (CalFresh) benefits for eligible households in California.
• Requires the State Department of Social Services to use state funds to continue CalFresh payments if there is a federal funding lapse that results in withholding, suspension, or delay of federally funded CalFresh benefits.
• Gives the Director of Social Services the power to declare a federal funding lapse when it happens.
• Continuously provides money from the General Fund to cover the costs of keeping CalFresh benefits going during a funding lapse.

Who It Names or Affects

• CalFresh recipients in California
• The State Department of Social Services

Terms To Know

federal funding lapse

A period when the U.S. government does not provide sufficient funds to cover SNAP benefits for eligible households.

General Fund

The main fund from which a state pays for its programs and services.

Limits and Unknowns

• It is unclear how much the General Fund will need to provide during a federal funding lapse.
• This bill only applies if there is a federal funding lapse that affects CalFresh benefits in California.

Official Summary Text

AB 2309, as introduced, Bains.
CalFresh Protection Act.
Existing federal law establishes 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.
This bill would, in the event of a federal funding lapse that results in the withholding, suspension, or delay of federally funded CalFresh benefits, require the State Department of Social Services to utilize state funds to ensure that CalFresh benefits continue to be issued to existing recipients. The bill would define “federal funding lapse” to mean any period during which the federal government fails to appropriate sufficient funds to the United States Department of Agriculture to cover the full monthly allotment of SNAP benefits for eligible households in
California, and would require the Director of Social Services to declare a federal funding lapse during any period that meets that definition. The bill would, in the event of a declaration by the director of a federal funding lapse, continuously appropriate to the department from the General Fund an amount necessary to cover the costs to implement these provisions, as determined by the director.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF