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Advocates press for SSI/SSP cost‑of‑living increases as rents rise
Summary
Department of Social Services presented recent grant history and estimates for a state COLA; advocates urged reinstating annual cost‑of‑living adjustments and raising grants to at least federal poverty level to prevent senior impoverishment and homelessness.
Department of Social Services staff told the committee that Supplemental Security Income and State Supplementary Payment (SSI/SSP) grant levels have increased since recession‑era cuts but remain inadequate to cover housing and basic needs in many California counties.
Danielle Morris, CDSS chief for fiscal appeals and benefit programs, outlined grant history and modeled the cost of a proposed state COLA. CDSS said the maximum individual SSI/SSP payment for aged/disabled recipients is $1,206.94 per month in 2025 and remains below the federal poverty level. Using the California Necessities Index (CNI), department staff estimated a 3% state COLA effective Jan. 1, 2026 would cost about $54.5 million General Fund in the first year and approximately $108.9 million ongoing.
Advocates asked for more ambitious steps. Rebecca Gonzales of Californians for SSI and the Western Center on Law and Poverty called for reinstating an automatic annual state COLA and for a multi‑year plan to raise SSP grants to 100% of the federal poverty level, spread over five years. She noted that fair‑market rent for a studio apartment exceeds half the SSI individual grant in all 58 counties and is higher than the full grant in 28 counties. Advocates also urged reinstatement of a statutory emergency grant program and noted the SSI asset limit constrains recipients’ ability to build savings.
Legislative analysts and finance officials said they would provide technical assistance and flagged uncertainty in caseload and federal COLA assumptions that affect cost estimates. Lawmakers pressed for data on how many older adults experiencing or at risk of homelessness currently receive SSI/SSP so the committee could evaluate potential targeting and the effect of grant increases on housing instability.
Advocates and department staff agreed raising SSP levels would deliver cash directly to recipients and argued that unrestricted monthly support can reduce homelessness and food insecurity more efficiently than narrow categorical programs.
