Legislative Success!

It’s wonderful to have good news to share.  Today, Governor Jerry Brown signed three of the bills that St. Anthony’s supported as part of Hunger Action Day: AB 6, AB 69, and AB 152. All of these bills make important changes to California law that will result in greater access to healthy food for hungry Californians. Thank you to all of St. Anthony’s supporters who have sent emails, made phone calls, wrote letters, and joined us on Hunger Action Day in order to support this important legislation. Our hard work has paid off!

Check out our Hunger Action Day photo album on our Facebook Page to see photos of the advocates that helped pass this legislation.

Here’s some more information about the legislation that was passed:

AB 6 (Fuentes) simplifies and improves the CalFresh (food stamp) program by moving CalFresh recipients from quarterly to six-month reporting, removing the finger imaging requirement from CalFresh applications, and implementing a “heat and eat” initiative, which will simplify and expand the use of the standard utility allowance. AB 6 will change CalFresh to make it easier for eligible recipients to apply for benefits, easier for them to maintain the benefits they’re eligible for, and easier for them to claim the standard utility allowance, which results in higher benefits. This is great news for California, which is consistently ranked among the worst states in the country in terms of the number of eligible CalFresh applicants that we have enrolled in the program. Currently, about 2 million people state-wide are eligible for CalFresh and aren’t receiving benefits. AB 6 will help California to solve this problem.

AB 69 (Beall) establishes a program that will allow California counties to automatically enroll eligible seniors in the CalFresh program by using Social Service Administration information. Statewide, only 5% of seniors who are eligible for CalFresh are actually enrolled in the program.

AB 152 (Fuentes) establishes a state-level Emergency Food Assistance Program and establishes tax incentives for California growers who donate fresh produce to California food banks.