Nutrition Action Alert
May 30, 2014
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Budget Update

By midnight on June 15, the Legislature must pass a balanced budget. Following the release of the Governor's proposed Budget revision on May 14, the Senate and Assembly held Budget Committee and Subcommittee hearings to discuss and vote on budget items. Now the two houses will come together in the Budget Conference Committee to resolve any differences between their two budget proposals.

 

Conferees were appointed yesterday:

Assembly Members Nancy Skinner (Chair, D-Berkeley), Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica), Jeff Gorrell (R-Camrillo), and Shirley Weber (D-San Diego). Senators Mark Leno (Chair, D-San Francisco), Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley), Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens), and Jim Nielsen (R-Gerber).

 

Agendas for the Conference Committee have not yet been released, but the Committee is tentatively scheduled to meet from June 2 to June 9 and will reportedly discuss, among other topics, Human Services first and Child Care mid-week.

Budget Advocacy

Contact the conferees and let them know about your budget priorities today! Reach out to the conferees as soon as possible, as they will be meeting early next week.

 

Conferee contact list. PDF  

 


 

ECE Nutrition Investments

The Assembly has proposed a $10 million early childhood nutrition education (ECE) investment in their version of the budget. This critically important investment helps ensure that California's youngest children have access to healthy meals throughout their day. This proposal would support the provision of over 73 million nutritious meals each year; targeting low-income children in high quality child care settings.

 

While the Senate also proposed notable ECE investments, their budget did not include any restorations to ECE nutrition. However, we know that the Senate is still considering and negotiating investments that would improve the quality of child care.

 

CFPA has prepared a few resources, including a phone call script and "leave-behind" document, to help you advocate for ECE Nutrition Investments. Connect with the conferees today and share why a state investment in ECE nutrition is important to you.

 

Sample Phone Call Script. PDF 

Budget Alert Leave-Behind. PDF 

 

Questions? Contact Elyse Homel Vitale at 510. 433.1122 ext. 206 

 


 

CalWORKs Child Food Benefit

The Assembly has proposed a $25 a month child food benefit for all children on CalWORKs. This proposal presents an opportunity to invest in the food security and overall well-being of our most vulnerable children and families. Recognizing that CalFresh is an effective tool to prevent hunger and poverty, and that benefits are generally inadequate, the creation of a supplemental food payment for children receiving CalWORKs will go a long way in ensuring that California families are able to meet their most basic needs every month.    

 

Questions? Contact Alexis Fern�ndez at 510.433.1122 ext. 206  

 


 

Other Nutrition Related Budget Items

Customarily the Conference Committee discusses differences between budget items proposed by the Governor, Assembly and Senate. When specific budget items are included in both the Assembly and Senate budget proposals they will automatically be included in the Legislature's version of the budget which is reconciled with the Governor's May revision. This year, several nutrition related budget items were included in both the Assembly and Senate budget proposals and will not need to be discussed in conference. These include: continuation of the state's Heat & Eat program for CalFresh, modified categorical eligibility for all CalFresh households, creation of 3 positions for the Direct Certification and Medi-Cal pilot, and adjustments to the LCFF process for counting low-income students in Provision 2 schools. These budget items were also included in the Governor's May Revision.

 

Learn more about these specific budget items. link 

 

Questions? Contact Alexis Fern�ndez at 510.433.1122 ext. 206 

Reminder Monday, June 2nd Webinar: Community Eligibility Provision and LCFF   

Find out how your students and schools can benefit from the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) while also collecting the data necessary to implement LCFF. CFPA, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and the Food Research and Action Center are excited to offer this webinar that will draw on the experience of school districts within California and beyond. The webinar will be offered for a second time on Monday, June 2. Please reserve your spot now!

 

Read more about the webinar and get registered. link

 

Questions? Contact Tia Shimada  at 510.433.1122 ext. 109   

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