Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Food Security Snap topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Assembly committee adopts SJR 3 urging Congress not to cut SNAP benefits
Summary
The Assembly Committee on Human Services unanimously adopted Senate Joint Resolution 3, which urges Congress to avoid cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Supporters told the committee cuts would increase food insecurity across California and harm the state’s food economy.
The Assembly Committee on Human Services on Wednesday unanimously adopted Senate Joint Resolution 3, a nonbinding measure urging Congress to avoid cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known in California as CalFresh. The committee recorded a 7 to 0 vote adopting the resolution.
Senator Arguin presented SJR 3 and said federal proposals under consideration "could result in deep cuts to the SNAP program and accordingly to the CalFresh program," and stressed the state-level impact on food security and the farm economy. Arguin noted CalFresh supports about 5.4 million Californians and said SNAP provides roughly six times as many meals as food banks in the state.
Kelly Longo Flores, vice president of advocacy and public policy at the California Association of Food Banks, told the committee food bank demand has increased and that food banks cannot replace SNAP benefits. "For every one meal provided by a food bank, SNAP provides nine," Longo Flores said, and she warned that proposed federal cuts would be "absolutely devastating for communities, farmers, the economy."
Yesenia Jimenez, senior policy associate with End Child Poverty in California, said CalFresh is the single most effective anti-poverty program for children in the state, citing research that CalFresh lowered child poverty rates in California. Jimenez said recent federal proposals would shift costs to states and add administrative burdens.
Multiple community groups and youth advocates—No Kid Hungry California, Thriving Families California and local youth advocacy boards—registered support and several testified in favor of the resolution. No opposition witnesses appeared during the hearing.
Assemblymembers on the panel expressed personal and policy support for protecting SNAP. The resolution’s author requested an "I vote," and the committee adopted the resolution by roll call; the clerk announced the vote as 7 to 0.
Because SJR 3 is a nonbinding state resolution, it does not itself change SNAP benefits or federal funding. The resolution formally expresses the Assembly committee’s position and is intended to be transmitted to congressional leadership as an advocacy message from the state. The hearing record did not identify any direct fiscal consequences to the state from adopting the resolution.
