Dear Governor Newsom,
I write to urge you to sign AB 942 (Weber), the “Access to Safe Food Choices and Food SecurityAct of 2019”into law. AB 942will address food insecurity in California’s most vulnerable populations by expanding the CalFresh Restaurant Meals Program statewide. The Restaurant Meals Program, which originated in San Francisco under your leadership, allows homeless, disabled, and elderly people to use their EBT benefits to purchase hot or prepared meals. This bill has seen no opposition, and has had bipartisan support in both houses. Signing this bill into law is a commonsense next step to building a state where ALL Californians can thrive.
AB 942 (Weber) is a timely and critical next step because:
-4 million Californians rely on CalFresh to meet their nutrition needs, yet homeless, disabled, and elderly people have the lowest participation rates, often due to their inability to access safe food storage or to prepare meals.
-Currently, the RMP is a county opt-in model with only 10 out of 58 counties participating.This means that otherwise eligible Californians who are homeless and do not have access to facilities to store or prepare foods, or are disabled and/or elderly and unable to prepare meals for themselves, cannot access a hot or prepared meal simply because they do not reside in a county opted in to the RMP.
-Starting in July 2019, 500,000 additional Californians who are receiving SSI became eligible for CalFresh and the RMP program, demonstrating the current need to make the program available statewide.
Under AB 942, the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) will establish a statewide RMP program, in collaboration with stakeholders including county human services agencies and advocates for CalFresh recipients.AB 942 will ensure that the most vulnerable Californians have access to greater resources, increasing food security, and making public health policy a statewide priority.
Thank you,