The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — known as CalFresh in California — is the state’s most powerful tool to fight hunger. CalFresh provides modest monthly assistance to over 5 million Californians with low incomes to purchase food. While CalFresh participation varies across the state, in nearly three-quarters of congressional districts, over 1 in 10 constituents rely on this program to put food on their tables.
Research shows that SNAP is one of the strongest anti-poverty programs in the United States and provides significant economic returns. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that every dollar in SNAP benefits increases economic activity by $1.54 or more. Additionally, according to recent data from the Public Policy Institute of California, CalFresh kept over a million Californians across the state out of poverty in early 2023. With the support of expanded food assistance as part of post-pandemic relief, CalFresh reduced the poverty rate by 3.0 percentage points statewide, with reductions of over 5.0 percentage points in nine districts.
Republican proposals to cut food assistance funding to pay for tax breaks for the wealthy would take food away from Californians living in poverty. Harmful policies that would reduce benefits and implement harsh work requirements would make it harder for millions of people with low incomes to put food on the table. At a time when half of lower-income Californians have reported having to cut back on food to save money, these policies would severely undermine one of California’s most important tools to mitigate poverty.
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