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President's Proposed Budget Would Drastically Increase Hunger, Hardship in CA
The President's FY 18 proposed budget released yesterday includes staggering cuts to vital safety net programs including CalFresh, SSI, and Medi-Cal. These drastic cuts to programs that serve low-income Californians would force seniors, people with serious disabilities, veterans, and working families already struggling to make ends meet to make impossible choices between basic needs like housing, health care, and food. Rather than protect and strengthen proven programs that help those that have fallen on hard times, the President is proposing to push struggling families deeper into hunger and poverty in order to provide gratuitous tax cuts to the most fortunate Americans.
The proposal's 25 percent cut to CalFresh includes massive shifts in costs from the federal government to the states. If enacted, California would face an annual budget shortfall in excess of $1.8 billion in order to fully fund CalFresh and continue to provide essential nutrition assistance for the over four million Californians who rely on CalFresh to help put food on the table for themselves and their families.
Read CFPA's statement on the President's proposed budget. link
Learn more about the history of SNAP/CalFresh and who it helps.
link
Take Action! Tell Congress to oppose the President's attack on the safety net!
Call your Representative in Congress today by dialing the Capitol Switchboard at
(202) 224-3121
(or
click here
to find your Senator/Representative) and tell them to reject this budget proposal and support real solutions that provide low-income Californians the opportunity to lead healthy, successful lives with the dignity and security we all deserve.
In addition to making phone calls, use the sample tweets below to make your voice heard on social media.
- Millions of Californians rely on CalFresh to get the nutrition they need #SaveThe SafetyNet
- Congress must protect CalFresh from harmful #budget cuts that harm vulnerable Californians #SaveTheSafetyNet
Stay tuned for further calls to action
The President's budget is only one avenue of attack on the safety net and our values. House Republicans are preparing their own budget proposal to be released in June which reportedly will also include dangerous cuts to programs that help low-income Americans. Stay up to date and ready to take action by signing up for CFPA's Nutrition Action Alerts.
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CFPA's Sponsored Bills Need Your Support Today!
CFPA's sponsored bills need your action TODAY to make it through the Appropriations Committee and onto a Floor vote! The following bills are currently in the "Suspense File" in the Senate or Assembly Appropriations Committees. The Suspense File is a unique feature of the Appropriations Committee - it's where the Committee sends any bill with a cost
of more than $150,000. Suspense File bills are then considered together as a group when the committee has a better sense of available revenue. No witness testimony is presented at the Suspense File hearing.
Your voice is needed
NOW
to let the Appropriations Committee Chairs know that you want to see these anti-hunger and nutrition bills move forward!
Follow the links below to find sample calls, emails, and tweets.
Don't wait, make your voice heard today!
AB 164 (Arambula) - California Leads in Meeting Food Needs, would
allow California Food Assistance to be provided through the CalFresh EBT system if federal assistance does not meet California's needs. Click here for sample calls, emails, and tweets.
SB 138 (McGuire) - Count Me In: Expand Access to School Meals,
would increase access to school meals by implementing Medi-Cal Direct Certification statewide and call upon very high poverty schools to offer free school meals to all students.
Click here for sample calls, emails, and tweets.
SB 782 (Skinner) - California-Grown Fresh School Meals Fund
,
will establish a grant program to incentivize public schools to serve more California-grown food in freshly prepared school meals.
Click here for sample calls, emails, and tweets.
Access CFPA's State Legislative Agenda.
link
Sign up for CFPA Nutrition Action Alerts.
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Hunger Action Day is TODAY, May 24th!
Today, anti-hunger advocates from all over the state will meet in Sacramento to educate their legislators about hunger and support anti-hunger legislation. Advocates, soup kitchen volunteers, nutritionists, food bank supporters, and others concerned about the millions of Californians experiencing hunger have traveled by bus, car, and plane to participate in this year's Hunger Action Day!
Hunger Action Day is sponsored by the California Hunger Action Coalition (CHAC),
a broad-based membership organization of volunteers united in the belief that access to adequate, nutritious and safe food is a fundamental human right.
Learn more about Hunger Action Day and how to participate.
link
Can't make it to Sacramento? Participate in "Virtual Hunger Action Day."
link
Access the 2017 Hunger Action Day Policy Agenda.
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