ACCFB staff and community organizers on Hunger Action Day
California’s legislative season came to an end on September 30, as Governor Newsom signed the remaining batch of bills into law, and we are thrilled to report a series of major victories for ACCFB’s policy advocacy and community organizing efforts.
These victories could not have come at a more urgent time for our community. An estimated 25,000 people in Alameda County have are losing their CalFresh benefits permanently in the next year due to federal cuts, over 5,000 of whom are humanitarian immigrants. Now more than ever, we need your voice to urge California’s elected leaders to step up in support of community members who are impacted by these cuts. Thank you for speaking up!
On June 29, Governor Newsom signed a state government budget for the 2026-2027 Fiscal Year that included several critical investments in California’s anti-hunger programs, including $118 million for funding food banks; $14 million to support CalFresh Outreach; expansion of CalFresh-equivalent benefits to people 55 and older, regardless of their immigration status; and funding food universally-free school meals and the SUN Bucks program.
In addition to these victories in the state budget, in September Governor Newsom signed several ACCFB priority bills into law, helping to reduce hurdles to food access, ensure healthcare access, and incentivize surplus food donations.
Priority Bills Deep Dive
- AB 1857 (Aguiar-Curry): Voids and prohibits the anti-competitive practices known as “restrictive covenants” that are used by some grocery store chains to unfairly reduce food access.
- AB 2348 (Bonta): Builds on California’s work to better address health needs through the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal program (CalAIM) by strengthening Community Supports. Authorizes Medi-Cal managed care plans to continue covering Community Supports as part of Medi-Cal beyond the conclusion of the CalAIM waiver at the end of 2026.
- SB 881 (McNerney): Extends the ability of farmers and food producers to receive tax credits for donating surplus food to food banks and extends the option for California taxpayers to donate to food banks on their state tax returns.
Not all of our priorities passed this year.
- AB 2299 (Calderon): Stalled in the Senate. It would have expanded the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP) to protect Californians losing SNAP/CalFresh benefits due to H.R. 1’s expanded time limits and humanitarian immigrant eligibility restrictions.
- AB 1049 (Rodriguez): Vetoed. This would have removed unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles for immigrants applying for CFAP, was unfortunately vetoed by the Governor. Many of you wrote letters to the Governor in support of AB 1049, and we sincerely thank you for lifting up your voices in support of our immigrant neighbors.
We are not giving up on either one of these priorities. Together with the statewide Food4All Coalition, we will spend the next few months strategizing to reintroduce these critical policies in January.
What’s Next
Graduates of ACCFB’s Community Organizing Leadership Academy Program (COLAP)
We invite you to take the next step in Food Bank advocacy and join our community organizing efforts. It is through community members like you building leadership skills, making phone calls, writing letters, and traveling to Sacramento that we are able to get these critical pieces of legislation passed.
Finally, as the holiday season approaches and you plan to make your generous donations in support of ACCFB’s work, we remind you that your donation dollars help support our policy advocacy and community organizing, alongside our food distribution, CalFresh Outreach, and nutrition education. Make a gift today.
We thank you for your contribution to making these advocacy victories possible. Stay tuned as we advance our mission to partner with our community to end hunger and its root causes.
