Anti-Hunger Issues for Hunger Action Day

St. Anthony Foundation seeks to promote public policy that enhances our guests’ transitions to stability and promotes a society where all persons flourish.   California Hunger Action Day is coming up on May 25, 2016, and hunger is one of St. Anthony’s four advocacy issue areas (the others are housing and homelessness, health care, and work and income).

St. Anthony’s sees significant demand for food assistance throughout our programs.  Lack of adequate access to food has significant negative consequences, especially for people whose health is already compromised.  Our state-level anti-hunger priorities this year include:

• Addressing hunger and poverty among low-income seniors and people living with disabilities by increasing SSI grants.
• Improving the CalFresh application process so that everyone who is eligible can receive assistance.
• Expanding access to food assistance to immigrants, students, domestic violence survivors, and others.
• Passing a fair state budget that addresses hunger and poverty.

Our state-level anti-hunger policy priorities this year will focus on the following issues:

Budget Priorities:

Raise Supplemental Security Income (SSI) grants above the federal poverty level and restore the state COLA.

Provide $10 million for the State Emergency Food Assistance Program for food banks to purchase and distribute healthy California foods to low-income communities.

Policies to Help Californians Afford Healthy Food

AB 1747 (Weber) to address college student hunger by requiring all public colleges to provide access to EBT and CalFresh Restaurant Meal Programs.

AB 2057 (Stone) establishes entitlement to expedited CalFresh for survivors of domestic abuse and exempts them from mandatory employment and training requirements.

SB 904 (Hertzberg) to require the state to maximize federally-funded food aid when unemployment is high, in order to reduce the harm of the CalFresh three month time limit.

AB 1770 (Alejo) to expand CalFresh to all lawfully present immigrants who meet eligibility criteria.

California Hunger Action Day is May 25, and if you’d like to participate with St. Anthony’s, contact Corey Bigoni at cbigoni@stanthonysf.org to sign up for our training session and reserve a seat on the bus.