Alameda County Community Food Bank

Take Action: Letter To The Governor

Ending hunger takes everyone working together: families, charities, communities, and government. While food banks provide part of the solution, food stamps, strong school lunch, summer lunch and other government nutrition programs are a critically important part of ending hunger.

Take this quick step now to speak up for hungry Californians -- send a friendly message to the Governor asking him to do what he can so that every one has the food they need all year long to be healthy, happy, and successful.

Please send this letter to encourage Governor Schwarzenegger to vote yes on AB 508.

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Comments to Governor	September 18, 2007 The Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger Governor’s Office California State Capitol Sacramento, CA 95814 Re: Support for AB 508 (Swanson) Dear Governor Schwarzenegger, The Alameda County Community Food Bank strongly supports bill AB 508 (Swanson – D). This bill will help offer support for individuals and families with a drug felony that could not receive food stamps due to a federal ban placed in 1996. At that time the Federal government allowed states to individually lift the ban; now most states have either lifted it entirely or modified it so not as many people were harmfully affected. In 2004 you signed AB 1796 (Leno), which removed the Food Stamp ban for those persons convicted of possession or use only. Unfortunately this is not enough. California still ranks last among all states in Food Stamp utilization and that is because of unnecessary confusion due to laws such as the partial ban. In November of 2006, there were 5,308 parolees in Alameda County; half reside in Oakland. Through AB 508, returning Oakland residents would undoubtedly benefit from the transitional nutrition support. As you wrote when signing AB 1796 “[T]he challenge of overcoming a drug addiction is substantial and universally denying Food Stamps to persons with felony drug convictions has created additional obstacles to drug free living and increases the likelihood of reoffending behavior.” The food bank applauds your commitment to creating a healthier California and we feel that the passage of AB 508 will be a huge step towards that goal for this community in transition. While there will be a minor cost to process applications for Food Stamps, this cost will more than be offset by new sales tax revenue that will flow to the state since families can spend more of their cash on non-food items which results in more sales tax. There is no concern of fraud under AB 508 because Food Stamp recipients obtain their benefits through EBT cards. To our knowledge the passage of AB 1796 has not led to an increase in fraud in the federal Food Stamps program. AB 508 will assist hundreds of Californians in recovery by ensuring that they have adequate nutrition both during and after treatment. AB 508 will reduce the number of drug felons who are returned to state custody and increase the number of persons who overcome their addiction. The Alameda County Community Food Bank urges you to sign AB 508. Thank you.