The COVID-19 crisis is increasing hunger and hardship throughout California. Congress has an opportunity to substantially lessen the hardship and boost economic recovery by funding a temporary 15% boost to SNAP benefits (known as CalFresh in California) in the next COVID-19 recovery package.
To help decision makers understand just how critical the need, we projected the social and economic impact that a 15% boost to SNAP benefits would have in California by county and congressional district.
Although the recession is expected to last much longer, the analysis narrows in on July-September, when unemployment is expected to peak at over 15% and key relief measures will begin to turn off.