Home Cartoon budget Advocates urge California to expand food aid to young undocumented residents

Advocates urge California to expand food aid to young undocumented residents

0

Last month, Senate Speaker Toni Atkins’ office backed a plan to use $284 million to expand benefits to immigrants of all ages in the 2023-24 budget year, after the US Senate State passed a bill in 2021. But that bill stalled in the Assembly, and the full expansion was not included in the budget deal reached by legislative leaders.

While lawmakers and Newsom will continue to negotiate some differences in their budgets, the age limit is expected to remain.

“I am heartbroken to know that this proposal will continue to exclude undocumented children and adults under the age of 55, who are finding it increasingly difficult to secure nutritious food for their families in the midst of the soaring food prices and shortages of infant formula,” Chao said this month.

A spokesperson for the governor’s office did not respond to questions this month about whether he would consider expanding CFAP to undocumented immigrants of all ages, instead the spokesperson sent a email stating that California has made “historic investments” for immigrant families.

“Governor Newsom is building on these investments by proposing to expand Medi-Cal to all eligible people, regardless of immigration status, and by expanding food assistance to all eligible people age 55 and older. “, wrote the spokesperson.

Proponents noted the state’s nearly $100 billion budget surplus.

“We were disappointed to see no further allocations, given that we have a record budget surplus,” Estudillo said.

Undocumented and food insecure: who is at risk?

According to a report by the ‘Food4All’ coalition, 45% of all undocumented immigrants live in food-insecure households. Children are particularly at risk.

Food insecurity is highest among people 26 and younger, who would not be eligible for food benefits under the likely expansion.

Nourish California estimates that a full expansion of CFAP would have made an additional 690,000 to 840,000 Californians, including people over age 55, eligible for food assistance. This would have cost nearly $550 million a year, the coalition estimates.

“We want to make sure that people are able to feed themselves and their families and not have to make tough decisions (about) whether they pay rent or fill up their car with gas or feed their family,” Estudillo said.

Not everyone agrees that extending CFAP benefits to undocumented Californians is the best approach to addressing food insecurity.

Susan Shelley, vice president of communications for the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, said in a statement that food insecurity is a symptom of policy failure.

“California has the highest poverty rate of any state when the cost of living is taken into account,” she said. “The governor and state legislators should be held accountable for all laws, regulations, policies and taxes that drive job-creating businesses out of the state or prevent them from locating in California in the first place.”

Shelley added that the drought would lead to less food insecurity if the state builds the water storage projects that voters agreed to fund in 2014.

“We just need to do it”

The Food4All coalition says it will continue to push for a full expansion of food benefits.

“Our work will never stop until everyone has access to a nutritional safety net, regardless of their immigration status,” Estudillo said.

Assemblyman Miguel Santiago, a Democrat whose district includes Downtown and East Los Angeles, said this month he was “still optimistic” the state would fully expand the program to the future.

It could happen in stages, he said, such as expanding Medi-Cal, the state health program for the poor. In May, the state expanded eligibility for Medi-Cal coverage to immigrants age 50 or older. Another proposal included in both Newsom’s budget proposal and the legislative budget agreement allows immigrants between the ages of 26 and 49 to enroll in Medi-Cal beginning in 2024.

“There is a general feeling of support” in the Legislative Assembly for the full expansion of food benefits, Santiago said.

Last year, Assembly and Senate leaders included the full expansion of food benefits in their budget agreement, but it was not included in the final budget.

“The good news is that it’s a step in the right direction,” Santiago said. “It’s definitely a years-long fight.”