Food Assistance & Public Benefits Programs

CalFresh: student eligibility.

Expands CalFresh food benefits eligibility to more college students through automatic program qualification. Requires financial aid systems to identify and notify eligible students about CalFresh benefits by January 2027. Mandates direct outreach to eligible students for CalFresh enrollment starting in the 2027-28 academic year. Streamlines the approval process by automatically qualifying campus-based programs for CalFresh eligibility.

Disaster CalFresh: county resources: status.

Requires counties to create disaster plans and form mutual aid regions to ensure food assistance during emergencies. Mandates state maintenance of updated disaster materials and applications in all required languages. Establishes procedures for counties to request emergency food benefits during federally declared disasters. Provides counties with free mobile technology to issue emergency benefit cards in disaster-affected areas.

Taxation: federal conformity.

Fresh Start Grants: Personal Income Tax Law: credits.

Establishes the Fresh Start Grants Program to replace existing tax credits with direct grant payments starting January 2027. Requires county welfare departments to calculate and distribute grants to eligible CalFresh recipients. Mandates comprehensive data security protocols to protect recipient information, especially for undocumented individuals. Creates a continuously appropriated Fresh Start Grants Fund to ensure sustainable program funding.

CalAccount Program.

Establishes a state-run banking program offering free, zero-penalty accounts to all Californians. Requires employers to enable direct deposit into CalAccounts for workers who choose to participate. Mandates landlords to accept rent payments through CalAccount electronic transfers. Creates a commission to oversee the program and imposes penalties on employers who block participation.

CalWORKs.

Expands CalWORKs eligibility by exempting in-kind gifts and noncustodial parent income from benefit calculations. Removes the 100-hour work limit requirement for unemployed parents seeking CalWORKs assistance. Requires counties to prioritize subsidized job placements with employers having labor agreements and good safety records. Mandates a comprehensive study by 2027 to evaluate potential expansions of the CalWORKs program.

Pupil nutrition: particularly harmful ultraprocessed food: prohibition.

Prohibits California schools from serving or selling particularly harmful ultraprocessed foods by 2035. Requires vendors to phase out harmful ultraprocessed foods from school food offerings by 2032. Mandates schools to begin reducing ultraprocessed foods by 2028. Establishes new state regulations to define and identify harmful ultraprocessed foods by 2026.

CalFresh: maintenance of benefit level.

Guarantees CalFresh benefits will not fall below January 2025 levels even if federal funding decreases. Authorizes state funds to maintain CalFresh benefit levels when federal funding is insufficient. Requires a feasibility study on expanding CalFresh eligibility and benefits due by January 2027.

Public social services.

Reforms welfare fraud penalties by eliminating criminal charges for overpayments under $25,000 in public assistance programs. Requires counties to verify system errors before pursuing fraud cases and prohibits prosecution for administrative mistakes. Mandates qualified caseworker review of all overpayment claims before any collection efforts can begin. Limits overpayment recovery to incidents occurring within the previous 24 months of discovery.

CalWORKs: family violence option and gender-based violence information.

Expands CalWORKs protections for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking by requiring program waivers. Requires counties to provide standardized forms and resources to help abuse survivors access services by July 2026. Mandates counties to notify applicants within 10 days whether program requirements will be waived. Establishes a six-month review period for program requirement waivers to ensure ongoing survivor safety.

Public social services: state of emergency or health emergency.

Requires continuous eligibility for public assistance programs during state emergencies or health emergencies. Maintains benefits for at least 90 days after an emergency declaration without requiring recipient verification. Mandates counties to automatically restore benefits for anyone who reports being impacted by the emergency. Requires automated notifications to recipients about continued eligibility and deadline changes.

Qualified ABLE Program: CalABLE accounts: funding.

Expands the California ABLE Program to accept grants and donations for disability savings accounts. Authorizes financial incentives for eligible individuals to open and maintain ABLE savings accounts. Requires tax return instructions to include information about depositing refunds into ABLE accounts. Empowers the ABLE Board to set eligibility criteria and distribute incentives to beneficiaries.

CalWORKs.

Extends CalWORKs benefits for parents whose children are placed in out-of-home care beyond the current 6-month limit. Requires counties to integrate welfare-to-work activities into child reunification plans for CalWORKs recipients. Ends immunization verification penalties when a child enters out-of-home care. Maintains parent eligibility for aid and services even if only some children are removed from the home.

California Food Assistance Program: sponsor deeming rules.

Removes federal income eligibility rules from the California Food Assistance Program for immigrants. Requires counties to develop new procedures for determining food assistance eligibility. Mandates state reimbursement to counties for costs of implementing the new eligibility rules.

State-funded assistance grants and contracts: advance payments.

Requires state agencies to provide advance payments for all grants and contracts starting January 1, 2026. Mandates advance payments cannot exceed 25% of total grant funds unless specially justified. Requires recipients to provide quarterly reports and deposit advance funds in federally insured accounts. Authorizes the Department of Finance to audit any recipient of advance payments for compliance.

CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable Supplemental Benefits Program.

Establishes a permanent program providing bonus CalFresh benefits for fruit and vegetable purchases. Requires retailers to integrate supplemental benefits into their existing payment systems. Creates a grant fund to help small retailers implement the program technology. Mandates quarterly public reporting of program usage and benefit distribution data.

Nonminor dependents: county of residence.

Reduces the required time to establish county residency for foster youth from one year to six months. Allows nonminor dependents to request jurisdiction transfers by showing connections to the new county. Requires courts to issue transfer orders within 60 days of a youth's request. Mandates courts to consider transfer requests during all review hearings for nonminor dependents.

State government grants and contracts: payment of claims and grantees’ indirect costs.

Requires state agencies to reimburse nonprofits' indirect costs in grant programs at federally approved rates. Mandates penalties for state agencies that fail to pay grant claims within 45 days of receiving undisputed invoices. Establishes standardized reimbursement options for indirect costs across all state grant programs. Requires annual reporting of late payment penalties paid to businesses and nonprofits by state agencies.

State Healthy Food Access Policy.

Expands California's food access policy to prioritize locally grown and raised food for all residents. Requires state agencies to consider local food sources when creating food distribution policies. Defines food insecurity as lack of access to healthy food due to insufficient resources. Maintains existing state obligations without requiring additional funding or infrastructure.

Community Violence Interdiction Grant Program.

Establishes a new grant program to fund local community initiatives that reduce neighborhood and school violence. Prioritizes funding for areas most impacted by violence and gang activity through competitive grants. Creates school-based health centers and youth intervention programs during peak violence periods. Funds the program using savings generated from state prison closures starting July 2026.

Stop Child Hunger Act of 2025.

Establishes a statewide online application system for families to access federal Summer EBT food benefits by 2027. Creates the BOOST Nutrition EBT Program to provide food benefits during extended school breaks and emergencies. Requires schools to serve meals during breaks or emergency closures lasting five or more days. Mandates translation of applications into all CalFresh threshold languages to increase accessibility.

Pupil health: school nutrition.

Makes technical changes to state declarations about school meal nutrition standards.

Office of Farm to Fork: California Farm to School Program.

Establishes a new Farm to School Program to increase California-grown foods in school meals. Requires schools to provide hands-on food education through gardens, farms, and culinary classes. Creates a grant program to support partnerships between local food producers and schools. Establishes a dedicated Farm to School Account funded by federal, state, and private sources.

The California Guaranteed Income Statewide Feasibility Study Act.

Requires California to study implementing a permanent statewide guaranteed income program by 2028. Establishes a steering committee of program operators and participants to guide research and recommendations. Mandates data sharing between state agencies to analyze impacts on vulnerable populations. Prioritizes funding for groups including foster youth, domestic violence survivors, and low-income seniors.

Emergencies proclaimed by the Governor: school employee catastrophic leave: enrollment reporting.

Expands school employee leave donation programs to cover staff impacted by state-declared emergencies. Extends catastrophic leave benefits to charter school employees alongside district and county staff. Requires schools to track and report student enrollment changes caused by state emergencies starting 2026-27. Takes immediate effect to support educators affected by recent Los Angeles fires.