Food assistance: higher education students.

(1) Existing federal law provides for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) , known in California as CalFresh, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Existing state law authorizes a county to deliver CalFresh benefits through the use of an electronic benefits transfer (EBT) system. Existing federal law authorizes counties to participate in the Restaurant Meals Program. This bill would require each public and private postsecondary educational institution that is located in a county that participates in the Restaurant Meals Program to apply to become an approved food vendor for the program, if the institution operates any qualifying food facilities on campus, or to provide contracting food vendors with specified information about the program. By imposing these requirements on community colleges, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, if private nonprofit organizations are successful in raising money for CalFresh outreach activities and have secured a local governmental agency to serve as the contracting agency, upon request and subject to approval by the United States Department of Agriculture, to act as their state entity for the receipt of matching funds. This bill would additionally require the department to act as the state entity for the receipt of federal reimbursement for CalFresh outreach activities on behalf of state educational institutions or other state or local agencies, subject to certain conditions. (3) Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services to establish and administer the State Emergency Food Assistance Program, to provide food and funding for the provision of emergency food to food banks, as provided. Existing law creates the State Emergency Food Assistance Program Account within the Emergency Food Assistance Program Fund and requires that moneys in the account, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be used by the program for the purchase, storage, and transportation of food grown or produced in California and for the department's administrative costs. This bill would establish the Public Higher Education Pantry Assistance Program Account in the Emergency Food Assistance Program Fund, and would require that moneys in the account, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be allocated to the department for allocation to food banks that support on-campus pantry and hunger relief efforts serving low-income students, as specified. (4) This bill would incorporate changes to Section 18995 of the Welfare and Institutions Code proposed by both this bill and AB 1577, which would become operative only if both bills are enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2017, and this bill is chaptered last. (5) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.