2024 Policy Tracker

Deep poverty occurs when a household’s income is less than half of the money needed to meet their basic needs. Through 2022, California Poverty Measure researchers’ poverty threshold for a family of four was $39,900. A household in deep poverty would be making $19,950 at most. Cash aid from programs like CalWORKs and SSI/SSP are effective at keeping families out of deep poverty but require protections from funding cuts and adjustments for inflation, costs of living, and other factors. We supported increasing these cash payments to ensure no child in California has to experience deep poverty.

Sponsors and Supporters: Californians for SSI (CA4SSI); Reimagine CalWORKs Coalition

Status/Result: New Investment; Not Included

The 2024-25 budget included $12.5M in ongoing funding to increase CalWORKs grants by 0.3%; continuing the trend established in the 2023-24 budget, which permanently increased CalWORKs grants by 10%. Recent increases to SSI/SSP were protected, but further raises were not included.

Related Reading: AB 108; CA4SSI website

Advocacy Resources: The California Budget & Policy Center’s Deep Poverty Report (11/23) and 2024-25 Budget Report (07/24) | PPIC Fact Sheet: California’s Cash-Based Safety Net (05/24) | The Budget Center’s Health & Safety Net homepage and Resources

Hearings: 2023-2024 Human Services Hearings | Select Committee on Poverty and Economic Inclusion (6/11/24)

Child support is a racial and economic justice issue. Read the policy platform at Truth and Justice in Child Support.

Sponsors and Supporters: Truth and Justice in Child Support (TJCS) Coalition

Status/Result: New Investment; Not Included

While full child support pass-through for former CalWORKs families began in May 2024, current CalWORKs families are still having their child support intercepted. However, final budget negotiations adopted language to begin this process, starting with a report (due 01/26) on the infrastructure and components necessary to implement full pass-through. The legislative session ended without any changes to collection or interest on child support debt.

Related Reading: Supplemental Report of the 2024-25 Budget Act from the LAO; TJCS Coalition’s Policy Updates

Hearings: 2023-2024 Human Services Hearings | Select Committee on Poverty and Economic Inclusion (6/11/24)

It is unacceptable that fundamental foster youth and child welfare programs and services are ever the target of budget cuts. In 2024, we rejected all proposed cuts, delays, and eliminations of child and family-serving initiatives like the Family Urgent Response System (FURS), Supervised Independent Living Placement (SILP) Housing Supplement, Emergency Child Care Bridge Program, Bringing Families Home Program, and the Housing Navigation and Maintenance Program.

Sponsors and Supporters: Current and former foster youth in coalition with more than 100 organizations and agencies, including John Burton Advocates for Youth (JBAY) and California Youth Connection; Assemblymember Ting and Senators Durazo and Umberg

Status/Result: Prevented Cuts; Preserved Programs; New Investment

The final budget maintained investments of $257.1 million for foster youth and child welfare services. It preserved key programs including FURS, HNMP, Emergency Child Care Bridge, and Bringing Families Home, albeit with some delays. The budget also set the stage for increased monthly SILP payments as part of foster youth rate reform (effective 2027).

Related Reading: AB 161; AB 166; AB 107; AB 108; JBAY’s Coalition Updates

Advocacy Resources: JBAY Fact Sheets on SILP and HNMP | JBAY’s HNMP Survey | Children Now’s FURS Blog | ECPCA’s 2024 Social Media Toolkit

Hearings: 2023-2024 Human Services Hearings | Select Committee on Poverty and Economic Inclusion (6/11/24)

Food4All is a statewide policy advocacy campaign to include all income-eligible Californians in food assistance benefits, regardless of immigration status. Read more from the sponsors, Nourish California and CIPC.

Sponsors and Supporters: California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC) and Nourish California in coalition with more than 100 organizations; Assemblymember Santiago and Senators Hurtado and Rubio

Status/Result: Prevented Cuts

While the bills both died in Appropriations, the 2024-25 budget preserves $40 million for Food4All. However, the budget again delays expanded implementation until 2027.

Related Reading: AB 161; AB 311 with AB 311’s Fact Sheet and Digital Democracy page; SB 245 with SB 245’s Fact Sheet and Digital Democracy page

Advocacy Resources: Food4All Campaign page with resources | ECPCA’s 2024 Social Media Toolkit | The California Budget & Policy Center’s Health & Safety Net homepage and Resources

Hearings: 2023-2024 Human Services Hearings | Select Committee on Poverty and Economic Inclusion (6/11/24)

The current reality of food insecurity and hunger is that many children’s most reliable meals are eaten at school. California led the push for universal school meals but must expand what’s possible to keep young Californians healthy. This campaign pushed the state to maintain its commitment to ending child hunger and poverty through the preservation of current programs, additional investments in school meals for all, and the implementation of SUN Bucks, new grocery benefits provided over the summer to support families while children are out of school.

Sponsors and Supporters: California Association of Food Banks (CAFB); Nourish California

Status/Result: Preserved Programs; New Investment

The 2024-25 budget invested almost $1.9 billion to continue to provide school meals for all. Additionally, it maintained the Summer Bridge Fund, keeping classified providers at schools and reinforcing summer wages for school meal providers who are essential to maintaining California’s nation-leading universal school meals and other child nutrition programs. Another $146.8 million was allocated for the 2025 implementation of SUN Bucks, the first new federal entitlement in a generation.

Related Reading: AB 107

Advocacy Resources: SEIU Local 99 on Summer Bridge Fund | CAFB’s SUN Bucks Page | SUN Bucks One-Pager | PPIC Blog: Examining the Reach of Universal School Meals in California (08/24) | The Budget Center’s Health & Safety Net homepage and Resources

Hearings: 2023-2024 Human Services Hearings | Select Committee on Poverty and Economic Inclusion (6/11/24)

Food benefits are popular and effective anti-poverty and anti-hunger tools. But did you know the federal minimum benefit is only $23 a month? Successful pandemic-era increases to monthly amounts kept more than one million Californians out of poverty–until they expired in 2023. A higher, permanent statewide minimum is necessary to meet the needs of people facing inflated living costs and food insecurity. The 2023-24 state budget included $15 million for a CalFresh Minimum Pilot Program that will provide one year of benefits of at least $50 per month. We fought for protection of this pilot and preservation of other nutrition programs under threat.

Sponsors and Supporters: CAFB; Nourish California; Senator Menjivar

Status/Result: Prevented Cuts; New Investment

The 2024-25 budget rejected the proposed cancellation of the CalFresh minimum pilot and maintained funding for senior nutrition and the Work Incentive Nutrition Supplement. It also added $10 million in funding for the CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable EBT Pilot.

Related Reading: AB 108; 2024-25 California Spending Plan: Human Services from the LAO; SB 102 (2023); SB 600 (2023) with SB 600’s Fact Sheet and Digital Democracy page; AB 2297 (2018)

Advocacy Resources: PPIC Report: Learning from CalFresh Pandemic Boosts (08/24) | Nourish California’s Fruit & Vegetable Benefits Blog (03/24) | CAFB Report: The Impact of CalFresh Emergency Allotments (06/24) | The Budget Center’s Health & Safety Net homepage and Resources

Hearings: 2023-2024 Human Services Hearings | Select Committee on Poverty and Economic Inclusion (6/11/24)

Following in the footsteps of AB 1520 and the Lifting Children and Families out of Poverty Task Force, AB 1961 sought to establish a task force that, for the first time in state history, would develop a strategic master plan to end hunger in California. The task force would convene diverse food system stakeholders to collaborate at the local, regional, and state levels and in partnership with tribal governments on ways to remove barriers to access adequate, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food for all communities in California.

Sponsors and Supporters: California Association of Food Banks; United Food and Commercial Workers, Western States Council; California Food and Farming Network; Assemblymember Wicks

Status/Result: Vetoed by Governor Newsom

AB 1961 passed the California Legislature but was vetoed by the governor in September. We believe this was a missed opportunity to take the first steps on a cross-sector approach to ending hunger in California.

Related Reading: AB 1961 with AB 1961’s Fact Sheet and Digital Democracy page with hearings

Advocacy Resources: PPIC Fact Sheet: California’s Nutrition Safety Net (04/24) | The Budget Center’s Health & Safety Net homepage and Resources

Advocates campaigned for adoption of the governor’s proposal to allow families sanctioned in CalWORKs to continue to receive food benefits. Previously, CalWORKs sanctions disqualified families from receiving CalFresh or CFAP, doubly punishing the state’s poorest families.

Sponsors and Supporters: Child welfare, anti-hunger, and anti-poverty organizations

Status/Result: New Investment

$80K was included in the budget to maintain food access during CalWORKs sanction and maximize federal food aid to families in deep poverty.

Related Reading: AB 161

Advocacy Resources: PPIC Report: The Role of CalFresh in Stabilizing Family Incomes (09/22) | The Budget Center’s Health & Safety Net homepage and Resources

Hearings: 2023-2024 Human Services Hearings | Select Committee on Poverty and Economic Inclusion (6/11/24)

To meet the demand for affordable child care, California has been working to increase the number of subsidized child care spaces available for families. California’s 2021-2022 budget included the goal of adding 200,000 child care slots by 2025-26 (since amended to 2026-27). Initial 2024-25 budget drafts proposed pausing expansion indefinitely at just under 119,000 slots. Child care advocates campaigned for fulfillment of this goal without any further delays.

Sponsors and Supporters: ECE Coalition, including child care service providers and parent advocates

Status/Result: Prevented Cuts

The final 2024-25 budget rejected an indefinite pause and codified the plan to fulfill the original goal of more than 200,000 new child care spaces. However, the target date for fulfillment was delayed until 2028.

Related Reading: SB 163; 2024-25 California Spending Plan: Child Care and State Preschool from the LAO; AB 131 (2021); ECE Coalition website

Advocacy Resources: CCCRRN’s Evolution of the 2024 State Budget | CCLC’s State Budget & Legislation page | CCRC’s Government Relations page | Early Edge California’s 2024-25 Final Budget Summary (07/24) | The California Budget & Policy Center Fact Sheet: California’s Child Care System Serves Only a Fraction of Eligible Children (02/24) | Claudia Boyd-Barrett’s California Has a Child Care Crisis (06/22) | The Budget Center’s Child Care & Preschool homepage and Resources

The 2023-24 budget included historic investments for California’s child care system. It eliminated a racist family fee structure that harmed children, families, and providers. And, through the collective bargaining of Child Care Providers United, it provided more than a billion dollars to increase payments to child care providers in the short term while also setting the stage for child care rate reform via an “alternative methodology” that is based on providers’ actual cost of care.

2024 advocacy prioritized increased accountability and reporting on the progress, costs, and timeline to implement this alternative methodology using the 2023-24 payment rates as the starting point.

Sponsors and Supporters: Child Care Providers United (CCPU); ECE Coalition

Status/Result: Prevented Cuts

The 2024-25 budget included stronger reporting on the implementation of an equitable single rate structure for providers and a timeline for the transition. Advocates continue to seek increased accountability to ensure completion before 2027.

SB 596 was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee. SB 380, formerly Early Learning and Care: Rate Reform, was amended to California State Preschool Programs: Age of Eligibility.

Related Reading: AB 163; AB 596 with Digital Democracy page; SB 380 with Digital Democracy page; SB 140 (2023); AB 92 (2021); ECE Coalition website

Advocacy Resources: CCLC’s State Budget & Legislation pages for 2024 and 2023 | CDSS Rate Reform & Quality page | Early Edge California’s Vision for a Robust Mixed-Delivery System Serving Children from Birth to Age 5 (03/24) | CCLC’s The Basics: Fair Pay for Child Care Providers | The Budget Center Report: California’s Child Care Providers Need a Substantial Pay Raise (03/23) | The Budget Center’s Child Care & Preschool homepage and Resources

California’s undocumented workers are the power behind the state’s economy. They are criminally underpaid and underprotected, contributing almost $8.5 billion in taxes that support services they often can’t access. This includes unemployment, despite employers paying close to half a billion dollars into unemployment on their behalf. SB 227 was working to change this through the creation of an Excluded Workers Program providing unemployment benefits for undocumented Californians.

Sponsors and Supporters: California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC); Legal Aid at Work; Trabajadores Unidos Workers United (TUWU); Warehouse Workers Resource Center (WWRC); CLEAN Carwash; Centro Binacional para el Desarrollo Indigena Oaxaqueño (CBDIO); Safety Net for All Coalition (120+ organizations); Senator Durazo

Status/Result: Vetoed by Governor Newsom

Read the SN4A Coalition’s response to the veto.

Related Reading: SB 227 with Digital Democracy page with hearings; Safety Net for All website

Advocacy Resources: The California Budget & Policy Center Fact Sheet: California’s Undocumented Residents Make Significant Tax Contributions (10/24) | PPIC Blog: California’s Medi-Cal Expansion is Lowering Poverty among Undocumented Immigrants (04/24) | The Century Foundation Report: Providing Unemployment Insurance to Immigrants and Other Excluded Workers (09/22)

From the First 5 Association of California: “Through the 2022-2023 budget, California was one of the first states in the country to adopt a multi-year continuous Medi-Cal enrollment (MYCE) protection for young children. This means that children under age five can keep their Medi-Cal coverage without any annual redeterminations, which can cause loss of coverage often due to administrative hurdles. To preserve Medi-Cal coverage for young children beginning January 2025, the intended start date, California needs to fund this policy in the 2024-2025 final budget so the Department of Health Care Services can take the necessary steps for implementation. Doing so now means that the state does not risk submitting the federal request under a new administration unlikely to approve it. This is the window of opportunity to protect young children’s Medi-Cal coverage.”

Additionally, AB 2956 sought to protect Californians from losing Medi-Cal benefits and experiencing gaps in coverage and care by allowing for year-long Medi-Cal coverage, regardless of a change in income, and by permanently adopting program flexibilities that increased outreach and efficiency during the public health emergency.

Sponsors and Supporters: The Children’s Partnership (TCP); Western Center on Law and Poverty; Latino Coalition for a Healthy California (LCHC); Assemblymember Boerner

Status/Result: Held in Committee; New Investment*

AB 2956 was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

The final 2024-25 budget included $33 million to fund continuous Medi-Cal coverage eligibility for children from birth to age five–starting, however, in 2026. *Additionally, the funding was contingent on the failure of Proposition 35. Prop 35’s passing makes this uncertain.

Related Reading: AB 159; AB 2956 with AB 2956’s Fact Sheet and Digital Democracy page

Advocacy Resources: TCP’s budget statement and social media toolkit | Asm. Boerner’s press conference | TCP Brief: How Medi-Cal Continuous Coverage Protects California Kids (03/23) | The Budget Center Fact Sheet: Universal Health Coverage in California: Progress and Key Policy Actions (11/24) | PPIC Fact Sheet: California’s Health Care Safety Net (09/24) | The Budget Center’s Health & Safety Net homepage and Resources

Hearings: 2023-2024 Health Hearings

SB 953 would add menstrual products to the schedule of covered benefits under Medi-Cal. Specifically, this bill would require that the Department of Health Care Services seek any and all federal waivers to implement coverage for menstrual products under Medi-Cal. By including menstrual products as a necessary medical device, menstruators who are also under Medi-Cal and struggling to purchase these products would be able to access them at no cost.

Sponsors and Supporters: What We All Deserve (WWAD); Alliance for Period Supplies; IGNITE; Senator Menjivar

Status/Result: Held in Committee

SB 953 was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee. Another WWAD priority, AB 1810, was signed into law in September.

Related Reading: SB 953 with SB 953’s Fact Sheet and Digital Democracy page; SB 260 (2023)

Advocacy Resources: Alliance for Period Supplies on Period Poverty

Diaper need, the stuggle to afford enough diapers to keep a baby clean, dry and healthy, affects families across California, with a particular impact on low-income families. In addition to its effects on families’ physical and mental health, diaper need also puts a strain on finances, placing families at risk of poverty. Diaper banks play a critical role in combating diaper need, distributing free diapers to families who might otherwise need to cut other expenses, like food, to pay for diapers. California has provided financial support for diaper banks for the previous five years. This campaign pushed for the inclusion of California Diaper Bank Network funding in the 2024-25 budget.

Sponsors and Supporters: California Association of Diaper Banks; National Diaper Bank Network; Assemblymember Ortega; Senator Umberg

Status: Prevented Cuts

The final 2024-25 budget included $9 million in one-time funding for diaper banks across California.

Related Reading: AB 108; CADB’s Fact Sheet

Advocacy Resources: First 5 Center for Children’s Policy Blog: Diaper Need | National Diaper Bank Network’s California Fact Sheet | Hiram Rodriguez-Franco’s California has helped fund diaper banks for years (05/24)

Building on the strengths of their communities, California’s cradle to career networks are working locally, showing what support looks like for children when they’re born, as they learn and grow, and become future parents themselves. Since 2020, the C2C Coalition has been advocating for dedicated state investment in the cradle to career model. The Coalition is asking for a grant program, established and administered at the agency level, providing financial support for current C2C organizations and growth across the state.

Sponsors and Supporters: California C2C Coalition; Assemblymembers Bonta and Jackson

Status/Result: Not Included

While the 2024-25 state budget did not include funding for cradle to career initiatives, the last several months have laid the necessary education and groundwork for subsequent campaigns.

Related Reading: AB 2517 (2022); AB 1321 (2023); AB 932 (2021)

Advocacy Resources: Read more at our C2C Coalition page.

Hearings: Select Committee on Place Based Systems of Coordinated Care for Children and Families (11/4/23)

From the CalEITC Coalition: “Free tax help through VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) is crucial to ensure families can claim the tax credits they’ve earned. VITA programs and trusted, local community-based organizations engage in education and outreach with target populations and play a crucial role in helping families access their cash. With the money saved on tax filing, Californians could afford to cover the cost of gas, groceries, and other basic needs. State funding is crucial for VITA providers to do their jobs.”

Sponsors and Supporters: 50+ members making up the CalEITC Coalition

Status/Result: Budget Reduction

While the final budget maintained investments in anti-poverty tax credits, it only included $12 million for free tax preparation assistance, amounting to a 40% reduction in funding for these critical services and service providers.

Related Reading: AB 108; CalEITC Coalition website

Advocacy Resources: United Ways of California’s Real Cost Measure in California 2023 | PPIC Fact Sheet: California’s Cash-Based Safety Net (05/24) | The California Budget & Policy Center’s Tax & Revenue homepage and Resources

Hearings: 2023-2024 State Administration and Revenue & Taxation Hearings

Due to the state’s economic forecast, the budget requests to expand the CalEITC and YCTC were paused this year. The CalEITC Coalition instead focused on maintaining funding for free tax preparation assistance and administrative and technical fixes to improve efficiency and access to available tax credits:

1. Aligning income thresholds across the CalEITC, YCTC, and Foster Youth Tax Credit (FYTC): set the same maximum earned income amount for all credits
2. Integrating CalFile, CA’s free tax filing tool, with Direct File, the IRS’ free tax filing tool (currently in pilot), to make tax filing free, easy, and secure for taxpayers

Sponsors and Supporters: 50+ members making up the CalEITC Coalition

Status/Result: New Investment

The 2024-25 budget included funding for the Franchise Tax Board to ensure income alignment across tax credits ($150K) and a total of $4.5 million over three years for integrating CalFile and Direct File.

Related Reading: AB 108; CalEITC Coalition website

Advocacy Resources: IRS Direct File information and website | The Budget & Center’s Tax & Revenue homepage and Resources

Hearings: 2023-2024 State Administration and Revenue & Taxation Hearings

AB 2263 was the initial policy step in the campaign for permanent statewide guaranteed income, establishing a first-of-its-kind comprehensive, statewide Guaranteed Income Coordinating Council that would study the needed infrastructure, funding mechanisms, and priority populations for a statewide guaranteed income program to alleviate poverty and promote economic well-being for all low-income Californians. 

Sponsors and Supporters: NCJW|LA; Assemblymember Friedman

Status: Vetoed by Governor Newsom

AB 2263 successfully passed the California Legislature before being vetoed by the governor. Despite this veto, we remain hopeful about the future of guaranteed income in California. The results of pilot programs remain positive, with philanthropy and local governments currently taking the lead. We will push for expanded state investment in future legislative cycles.

Related Reading: AB 2263 with AB 2263’s Fact Sheet and Digital Democracy page with hearings

Advocacy Resources: CDSS’ Guaranteed Income Pilot Program page | Guaranteed Income Pilots Dashboard from Stanford and UPenn | UPenn CGIR Report: The American Guaranteed Income Studies: Los Angeles BIG:LEAP | The New School’s Guaranteed Income Research Hub

For the past three years, ECPCA has been leading the campaign for California’s baby bonds program, HOPE Accounts. A $115 million dollar investment in the 2022-23 budget turned the campaign’s hopes into reality. With program implementation is well underway, SB 242 acted as a clean-up bill, revising language and refining details from 2022-23 to maximize the program’s effectiveness in supporting children and youth who lost a parent or caregiver to COVID and long-term foster youth.

Sponsors and Supporters: End Poverty in California (EPIC); Liberation in a Generation; JBAY; CCWRO; Senator Skinner

Status/Result: Enacted

SB 242 was successfully signed into law by Governor Newsom on September 30, 2024. We continue to push not just for implementation, but expansion of HOPE Accounts to reach all low-income California children.

Related Reading: SB 242 with SB 242’s Fact Sheet and Digital Democracy page with hearings

Advocacy Resources: Read more on our Baby Bonds page.