2016 policy agenda

2016 POLICY AGENDA
THE FOOD BANK SERVES
1 in 5
Alameda County residents.
Our clients live in profound poverty.
65% have incomes below the poverty level (42% make < $10,000 per year)
Food insecurity is costing the health of our community.
40% of Food Bank clients are in fair or poor health
Neighbors must choose between food and other necessities.
63% of clients employ extreme coping strategies to get enough food
Working households are outpaced by the cost of living.
54% of households have at least one member who is employed
POLICY PRIORITIES
Alameda County Community Food Bank passionately pursues a hunger-free community.
We support policies that address the root causes of hunger and poverty and urge our
policymakers at every level of government to:
+ Pass a budget that prioritizes the fight against poverty by
investing funding in services that stabilize families.
+ Protect and strengthen food and nutrition programs that
help to end hunger.
+ Ensure that full-time workers are able to feed, house and
clothe themselves and their families.
2016 POLICY AGENDA
STATE BUDGET
1. SSI/SSP: Lift recipient income above poverty level and reinstate the state COLA.
2. Invest in Breakfast After the Bell: Targeted state investments that expand the availability of Breakfast
After the Bell will improve students’ academic achievement, attendance, and mental and physical health
by ensuring that more children in California, particularly those served by high-need schools, have access
to school breakfast.
3. State Emergency Food Assistance Program: Increases SEFAP funding for Food Banks to $10 million
in 2016-2017. Critical to helping reduce hunger as California food banks experience particu¬larly high
demand complicated by the state’s most severe drought emergency in decades.
LEGISLATION
AB 1577 (Eggman) — Farm to Food Bank Tax Credit
SUPPORT:
• Expands the categories of foods eligible for the tax credit to sources of complete nutrition including
eggs, nuts, beans, rice, meat, dried fruits, dairy, and bread.
• Provides certainty to donors by extending the sunset of the credit from 2017 to 2022.
AB 1584 (Brown & Thurmond) — Increase SSI/SSP
Monitoring
• Reinstates the cost-of-living adjustment of the Supplemental Secuirty Income State Supplemental
Portion (SSI/SSP) and increase grant amounts.
AB 1747 (Weber) — College access to EBT
Support
• Addresses college student hunger by requiring all public colleges to provide surcharge free access to
EBT and to CalFresh restaurant meal programs, as appropriate.
AB 1770 (Alejo) — CalFresh for eligible immigrants
Support
• Establishes that immigrants and refugees who are legally present would be eligible for CalFresh, provided they meet all other eligibility rules.
AB 2054 (Thurmond) — Bring Summer EBT for Children to California
Support
• Would require the California Health and Human Services Agency to design and implement the
Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children (SEBTC) to provide nutrition assistance benefits to
eligible households.
SB 23 (Mitchell) — Repeal the CalWORKS Maximum Family Grant
Support
• Repeals 20-year-old law denying financial support to babies born while their families are receiving
CalWORKs basic needs grants.
• Law has proven to increase and exacerbate childhood and deep poverty.
SB 904 (Hertzberg) — CalFresh ABAWD Time Limits
Support
• Requires the state to maximize federally-funded food aid when unemployment is high and reduce
harm of the CalFresh Able Bodied Adult Without Dependents three month time limit.