Hi {{ FirstName | commonize | default: ‘Friend’ }}, as summer begins to pack some heat, we wanted to provide a temperature check on how our priority bills are doing as most make their way to their second house. We’re also using this time to offer some insights on how our communities may be impacted by current events: both the state of California and Congress have proposed deficient budgets that could impact Californians for the coming years. Grab a fan, it’s going to get hot!

We’re at the halfway point in the legislative process, with second-house policy committees starting up next week. Below is a breakdown of how our 5 Food and Farming Priority Bills have moved through their first house at this critical mid-point in the legislative cycle.

California Food Assistance Program – Sponsor Deeming: AB 1049– which would have removed the sponsor deeming rule within the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP) application, streamlining the eligibility process and reducing confusion and fear around eligibility– was held in the Appropriations Committee. This means it will not move forward this year, slowing efforts to expand food access to immigrant communities at a time when this population is facing a plethora of undignified hardships due to xenophobic federal attacks. We extend our gratitude to Assemblymember Celeste Rodriguez for her dedication to this effort.

Farmland Access and Conservation for Thriving Communities Act: Land is power, and the passing of AB 524 in the Assembly is a step in ensuring that socially disadvantaged farmers have access to the agricultural land they need to thrive. Historically, these farmers have not been provided the same opportunities as others. However, if AB 524 continues to move forward, Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color who have experienced disproportionate obstacles to opportunity will have greater access to land and landownership, strengthening their role in building a healthier and more sustainable food system in California. We’re grateful for Wilson’s leadership on this bill and look forward to seeing this pass in the Senate.

Strengthening CA’s Health and Safety Enforcement Workforce: The passing of AB 694 is a small but foundational step in ensuring that farmworkers risking their lives to farm and harvest our food are protected by a strong and culturally competent Cal/OSHA workforce. The bill will help to address Cal/OSHA’s decades-long staffing crisis by establishing a workforce training program that brings people with lived experience in workplace safety and linguistic and cultural competence into the agency’s enforcement division. We’re grateful to the work that Assemblymember McKinnor and supportive CA Leaders have been doing in passing this bill through the Assembly.

Stop Child Hunger Act: As SB 411 (Pérez) heads to the Assembly, it will streamline and increase access to SUN Bucks, which families rely on when school is out for the summer. However, amendments to the bill have removed the creation of the BOOST program, which would have laid the foundation to provide school meals during emergencies. This exclusion is disappointing as LA is still rebuilding from the wildfires, and as we continue to feel the effects of climate change and natural disasters. However, we’re grateful for the work that Senator Pérez has accomplished on this bill during her first year in the Senate!

Summer Caregiver Meals: If a child is hungry, so is their caregiver. SB 225’s death in the Appropriations Committee means that caregivers of children who rely on summer meals will not be able to share a meal with their child at summer meal sites at public libraries. This means parents, grandparents, and older siblings will not have access when they and their child need it most. And because summer meals require no confirmation of eligibility, community members – who are otherwise ineligible and left out of other programs like CalFresh and CFAP – will continue to face food access challenges in the summer. We’re grateful to Senator McNerney for recognizing this gap and working to close it.

We are living through another year of a budget deficit, this time, compounded by federal chaos. California is facing a $12 billion shortfall in the state budget for several reasons: the rising costs of state programs, negative impacts from Trump’s tariff spree, and a lower-than-expected return on tax revenue have all contributed to the deficient budget. The Governor’s May Revise outlined reductions in state program spending as the main course of action, threatening immigrant communities particularly harshly through cuts in Medi-Cal and signaling potential delays in future expansion of the California Food Assistance Program.

Additionally, the $12 billion state budget deficit fails to consider potential federal cuts that will impact Californians; ignoring an impending shock to our public benefits system. If both California’s and the Federal Government’s budgets are passed, Californians will face compounding financial, housing, and healthcare struggles. Meanwhile, the federal budget strengthens militarization at the border and extends tax cuts to corporations and the wealthy.

Given this context, now is the moment for California to be bold. About 2% of the budget includes adding new types of revenue, but according to the California Budget and Policy Center, more can be done, especially when it comes to closing tax loopholes provided to corporations and the wealthy. While some aspects of the budget are unmovable, we can still advocate for state leaders to grow the pie and raise equitable revenue for all Californians to thrive. Now is not the time to be stripping California’s hardworking families, children, elderly folks, and people with disabilities of their essential benefits. Now is the time to reclaim inequitably lost state revenue and double down on the supports that make our communities thrive.

As the remaining bills move to their second house, and as efforts to undermine thriving and abundant communities continue to persist at every level, we urge our allies to continue to be bold and demonstrate their support for our movement and our communities. Although it’s not always easy to speak truth to power, our members do an excellent job of inhabiting this critical role with a simple message: People and planet over profit.

Check out some of the blogs and articles they’ve written in response to the state budget:

Latino Coalition for a Healthy California (LCHC): California Budget Cannot Be Balanced on the Backs of Latine and Immigrant Communities

Nourish CA/Food4All: Food4All Coalition Stands Against Safety Net Cuts

California Association of Food Banks (CAFB): We underscore the urgent need for California to prioritize ending hunger in the final 2025-26 State Budget

CalCAN: Advocates Call for Reforms and Dedicated Ag Funding in Response to Governor’s Cap-and-Trade Proposal

CFFN recognizes that the California food and farming system threads through many intersecting issues, and while they’re not always obvious, continuously making those critical connections makes our advocacy efforts stronger and smarter. If you’re interested in supplementing your food system knowledge with parallel movements, here are some resources CFFN staff are following that remind us that everything is connected.

Environmental Justice

CA Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA): Governor Newsom’s May Budget Revise fails to deliver on the environmental justice priorities frontline communities have long fought for.

Healthcare + Immigration Rights

Health4All Coalition: Health and Immigrant Rights Advocates Say “Hell No” to Budget Cuts Proposed by Governor Newsom

California Pan Ethnic Health Network: CPEHN Calls for Legislature to Tackle Corporate Greed in Health Care, Resist Cutting Care for Immigrant Families to Appease Extremists

California Budget

California Budget Center: https://calbudgetcenter.org/resources/first-look-understanding-the-governors-2025-26-may-revision/

Thank you for taking the time to catch up with us at CFFN. If you don’t already, follow us on X! Until next time!

The California Food and Farming Network is building a movement centered on racial equity to transform the food and farming system through state policies.

CFFN envisions an inclusive, equitable, and ecologically regenerative food and farming system that has recognized and repaired injustices to Black, Indigenous and people of color workers, producers and communities, and which generates healthy, affordable, accessible, nutritious and culturally appropriate food and other agricultural products.