CalFresh: federal government shutdowns.

Landing page update frequency reduced from at least every 24 hours to at least every 72 hours during a federal government shutdown affecting CalFresh disbursement.

Removed the requirement for initial notification to all CalFresh participants within 24 hours of the department being notified by USDA of a disruption in CalFresh disbursement. Replaced with a general requirement for updates to the landing page and social media posts within 72 hours.

Emergency response briefings for local and state officials, community organizations, and participating retailers changed from 'daily' to 'as needed' during a federal government shutdown affecting CalFresh disbursement.

Removed legislative finding that USDA has historically treated SNAP as dependent on annual appropriations despite it being a mandatory payment program not subject to discretionary appropriations.

Removed specific dates and details from the October 2025 shutdown narrative, including the October 10 and October 24 USDA memos about benefit suspension, the October 28 multi-state lawsuit filing against USDA, and the November 12 reopening date.

The entire amendment to Section 18917 (Disaster CalFresh provisions) is removed from the bill. The bill no longer addresses disaster response planning, county disaster plans, D-SNAP requests, or mobile EBT card issuance during disasters. The bill now focuses exclusively on federal government shutdowns.

Landing page update frequency changed from 'at least every 24 hours' to 'at least every 72 hours' until CalFresh benefits are fully disbursed and the federal government reopens.

The requirement for initial notification to all CalFresh participants within 24 hours of being notified by USDA is removed. It is replaced with a requirement to update the landing page and deploy social media posts within 72 hours of the department being notified by USDA of a disruption.

Emergency response briefings for local and state officials, community organizations, and retailers changed from 'daily' to 'as needed' during a federal government shutdown affecting CalFresh disbursement.

A deadline of January 1, 2028 is added for the department to establish the strategic communications plan in coordination with stakeholders.

A new operative date provision is added to Section 18921.1 (benefit issuance mechanism). The section will not take effect until the department notifies the Legislature that the Statewide Automated Welfare System can perform the necessary automation to implement it, making the provision contingent on system readiness.

Legislative findings language adjusted: 'On October 1, 2025' changed to 'In October 2025'; 'Until the federal government reopened on November 12, 2025' expanded with clarifying language about it being part of the federal government shutdown.

Two new sections (18921 and 18921.1) are added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, expanding the bill from a technical fix to Disaster CalFresh into a full federal government shutdown preparedness framework for CalFresh.

Assembly Member Celeste Rodriguez is added as principal coauthor and Assembly Member Lee as coauthor, broadening the bill's legislative coalition.

During a federal government shutdown impacting CalFresh disbursement, the department must maintain a clearly marked landing page on its website providing: status of the shutdown and benefit availability, a timeline of disruptions, an FAQ section addressing misinformation, emergency food resource information (including local food banks), and relevant litigation updates. The page must be updated at least every 24 hours until benefits are fully disbursed and the government reopens.

The department must establish a strategic communications plan in coordination with counties, the County Welfare Directors Association, CalFresh eligibility worker representatives, authorized retailer representatives, participant advocates, and the California Association of Food Banks. The plan requires initial notification to all CalFresh participants within 24 hours of being notified by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service of a disruption, plus regular ongoing notifications.

The communications plan must include daily emergency response briefings for local and state officials, local government agencies, community organizations, and participating retailers covering benefit status, past month balance availability, court filings and decisions, factual public information sources, and emergency actions the state is taking including additional funding and staffing for food banks.

The department must develop a benefit issuance mechanism to rapidly provide nutrition benefits on an emergency basis during a federal government shutdown. The mechanism must issue through the existing electronic benefits transfer system (Section 10072), be capable of targeting various populations depending on the purpose of the specific benefit, and comply with all applicable state and federal privacy and confidentiality laws.

A lengthy set of legislative findings is added documenting the October 2025 federal government shutdown (43 days), the USDA's suspension of SNAP benefits for November 2025 affecting over 5 million Californians, the lack of state infrastructure to replace those benefits, and the lawsuit filed by California and 26 states against the USDA.

The fiscal committee designation changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the amended bill now has an identified fiscal impact due to the new operational requirements (landing page maintenance, communications plan, briefings, and benefit issuance mechanism development).