California Food Assistance Program: eligibility and benefits.

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 law requires the State Department of Social Services to establish a food assistance program, known as the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP) , to provide assistance to a noncitizen of the United States if the person's immigration status meets the eligibility criteria of SNAP in effect on August 21, 1996, but the person is not eligible for SNAP benefits solely due to their immigration status, as specified. Existing law also makes eligible for the program an applicant who is otherwise eligible for the program, but who entered the United States on or after August 22, 1996, if the applicant is sponsored and the applicant meets one of a list of criteria, including that the applicant, after entry into the United States, is a victim of the sponsor or the spouse of the sponsor if the spouse is living with the sponsor. This bill instead would require the department to use state funds appropriated for CFAP to provide nutritional benefits to households that are ineligible for CalFresh benefits solely due to their immigration status. The bill would eliminate the distinctions based on when the noncitizen applicant entered the country and would eliminate the sponsorship and other listed criteria requirements for eligibility on a noncitizen who entered the country on or after August 22, 1996. The bill would require the amount of nutrition benefits provided to each CFAP household to be identical to the amount that would otherwise be provided to a household eligible for CalFresh benefits, and would require eligibility determination criteria, reporting, recertification, and verification requirements, and the application process and timeliness standards for CFAP to be identical to those required of households eligible for, or applying for, CalFresh benefits. The bill would become operative on the date that the department has notified the Legislature that the Statewide Automated Welfare System can perform the necessary automation to implement the bill, and the Legislature has appropriated funds for purposes of the bill. To the extent this bill would expand eligibility for CFAP, which is administered by the counties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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 the statutory provisions noted above.