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Federal rule changes to CalFresh eligibility will impact food benefits access for thousands of Bay Area residents, representatives of community food banks said Wednesday at a news conference organized by state Assemblymember Alex Lee, D-Milpitas.
CalFresh is California’s version of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and provides food assistance to more than 5 million people in the state.
But H.R. 1, legislation also known as the “Big Beautiful Bill” that was approved last year by the Republican-controlled Congress, puts into place stricter eligibility requirements that will impact more than 600,000 people receiving CalFresh benefits in the state.
“H.R. 1 will impose cruel and punitive work requirements forcing the poorest Californians into even deeper poverty,” said Lee at Wednesday’s news conference. “This is yet another federal policy created to starve our families.”
One of the most significant changes is the expansion of the Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents category. Individuals belonging to this category can receive food benefits for three months in a 36-month period, after which they are subject to work requirements to qualify for benefits.
Previously, this category included individuals without disabilities between the ages of 18 and 54 who can work and do not have dependents over the age of 18. The new definition, as set out by H.R. 1, raises the upper age limit to 64 and reduces the age of dependents to 14.
That means beneficiaries between the ages of 54 and 64, and parents of children between the ages of 14 and 18, will now have to meet the 20 hours per week work requirement to qualify for food benefits beyond the three-month time limit.
Additionally, before H.R. 1, the U.S. Department of Agriculture allowed states to waive the implementation of the three-month time limit in areas with high unemployment.
California had a statewide exemption, which meant that individuals in that category could receive benefits beyond three months without having to satisfy the work requirements.
Now, H.R. 1 stipulates that only counties with more than 10% unemployment will qualify for an exemption. In California, 52 out of 58 counties do not meet that criterion, which means that they will all lose their waiver.
In the San Francisco and Monterey Bay areas, Monterey is the only county that will retain its exemption even under this new standard.
At Wednesday’s press conference, representatives of local food banks said that the expansion of work requirements and the removal of the statewide exemption will have an outsized impact on beneficiaries in the Bay Area, where the Trump administration’s tariffs and the ongoing war with Iran are exacerbating the already high costs of living.
Jared Call, director of public policy and advocacy for the California Association of Food Banks, said that even beneficiaries who meet the criteria might face disruptions in their benefits because of the bureaucratic red tape associated with reporting changes to their employment, disability and health status.
“We cannot overstate how complicated this rule is,” said Call. “It’s difficult to get back on [benefits] after you fall off.”
The expanded category definition and the removal of the time-limit exemptions will go into effect on June 1, and the impacts will be felt in October, after beneficiaries’ three-month time limit is exhausted.
Already in April, another set of changes mandated by H.R. 1 went into effect, restricting people granted asylum, as well as refugees and immigrant human trafficking victims, from receiving food assistance.
Around 72,000 previously eligible beneficiaries are expected to lose their benefits in California because of this rule change, according to a report by the California Legislative Analyst’s Office.
With the sweeping federal cuts, Lee said that the burden of providing food assistance will fall upon the state and county governments.
According to a news release issued by his office, Lee has requested $100 million to expand the CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable EBT Pilot Project, and the state government has earmarked $20 million to support counties as they navigate expanded work requirements.
This story was written by Tanay Gokhale for Bay City News Service.
