AB2765 - CalFresh and CalWORKs: childhood hunger and foster youth.

Enrolled August 30, 2026 Passed IN Senate August 26, 2026 Passed IN Assembly August 26, 2026 Amended IN Senate August 21, 2026 Amended IN Senate August 13, 2026 Amended IN Senate June 11, 2026 Amended IN Assembly April 13, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 2765 Introduced by Assembly Member Ahrens (Coauthors: Assembly Members Bennett, Calderon, Elhawary, Jackson, Lee, and Blanca Rubio) February 20, 2026 An act to amend Sections 11450 and 18926 of, and to add Section 18900.96 to, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to nutrition assistance, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2765, Ahrens. CalFresh and CalWORKs: childhood hunger and foster youth. Existing federal law establishes 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 federal law limits a participant who is an able-bodied adult without dependents (ABAWD) to 3 months of CalFresh benefits in a 3-year period unless that participant has met work participation requirements or is otherwise exempt. Existing state law requires the State Department of Social Services to annually seek a federal waiver of this limitation. Existing state law requires the department to ensure that all recipients subject to the federal ABAWD time limit are permitted to meet the work requirements of the time limit through all forms of work, as specified. Existing federal law, Public Law 119-21, enacted on July 4, 2025, sets forth various changes to SNAP benefits, including the removal of an exemption from the time limit for certain former foster youth under 25 years of age, and the narrowing of an exemption for a household with a dependent under 18 years of age to instead a household with a dependent under 14 years of age, as specified. This bill would specify that an ABAWD participant includes a parent or other member of a household with responsibility for a dependent child 14 years of age or older as a result of Public Law 119-21. The bill would make various statements of legislative intent relating to, among other things, maximizing efforts to retain in the program as many eligible CalFresh recipients as possible, providing for the continuation of food benefits, mitigating harm, and streamlining the verification of exemptions for certain populations, in response to Public Law 119-21, as specified. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature that all exemptions provided by the state and the counties under Public Law 119-21, to the extent permitted by federal law and guidance, remain in effect for any recipient until, at the earliest, the next scheduled redetermination for that recipient, when the exemption is reassessed by the county, unless the automated exemption at redetermination allows for the exemption to continue. The bill would state legislative intent that a recipient not be discontinued from the CalFresh program due to the ABAWD work requirements under Public Law 119-21 before October 1, 2026, or until specified administrative activities are complete, whichever is later. The bill would generally require the department to provide data to certain legislative committees and all 58 county welfare departments on the total number of CalFresh recipients subject to, exempted from, or discontinued from the program potentially due to, the CalFresh ABAWD time limit and corresponding work requirements, as specified. Under the bill, prior to the first 2 reports, the data would be furnished to impacted counties with a minimum of 4 weeks for review prior to public reporting in order to ensure accuracy. The bill would also require the department to provide data on the total number of CalFresh recipients discontinued from the program, as specified. The bill would require the department to adopt, provide instructions to counties on, and automate for, compliance with CalFresh work requirements, in accordance with federal law, for individuals participating in extended foster care and who have been determined to be working at least 80 hours per month. To the extent that the bill would increase CalFresh eligibility for certain populations and expand county duties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law establishes the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, under which, through a combination of federal, state, and county funds, each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families. Under existing law, in addition to specified CalWORKs aid amounts, a family is entitled to receive an allowance for recurring special needs relating to, among other things, food, utilities, and transportation. Under existing law, the allowance for each family per month is prohibited from exceeding that amount resulting from multiplying the sum of $10 by the number of recipients in the family who are eligible for assistance. This bill would increase the maximum threshold for the allowance by switching the factor from $10 to $15 within the formula. Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program. This bill would instead provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of the bill. 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. Digest Key Vote: 2/3 Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YES Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) Federal H.R. 1 (Public Law 119-21), which was passed on a partisan vote with all but two Republicans in the United States House of Representatives and three Republicans in the United States Senate voting “Yea” and all Democrats voting “Nay,” made the largest cuts to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known as CalFresh in California, in history. (b) H.R. 1 made these cuts to help fund the largest tax cuts for wealthy corporations and individuals in history. (c) These cuts are currently being enacted during a period of significant food inflation, caused in part by raids by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on immigrant farmworkers and trade tariffs levied unilaterally by President Donald J. Trump. (d) Among these cuts were cuts to food assistance for foster youth and families with children. (e) According to H.R. 1, the cuts to foster youth and families with dependent children are generally applied if the household fails to show proof of adequate work for adults in the household between 18 and 64 years of age, inclusive, despite the fact that there is no evidence that people are more able to find and keep work if they are experiencing hunger or their children are experiencing hunger. (f) The Legislature refuses to acquiesce to the deception of H.R. 1, which dishonestly designated these new benefit cuts to families with children to be implemented under the “Able-Bodied Adult Without Dependents (ABAWD)” policy. The Legislature therefore plans to amend state law to help prevent undue harm to families with children as a result of the new federal law. (g) The Legislature declares that no one should experience hunger, especially not children and not foster youth transitioning to adulthood. (h) The Legislature recognizes the significant and long-term harm that can be caused by hunger experienced by children and young adults, especially those who experienced other traumas as a child, such as those known to have been experienced by foster youth. (i) The Legislature encourages all efforts to mitigate the harm to children and foster youth affected by this cruel new federal policy. SEC. 2. Section 11450 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, as amended by Section 2 of Chapter 798 of the Statutes of 2024, is amended to read: 11450. (a) (1) (A) Aid shall be paid for each needy family, which shall include all eligible children of each eligible applicant or recipient child and the parents of the children, but shall not include a fetus, or recipients of aid under Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 12000), qualified for aid under this chapter. In determining the amount of aid paid, and notwithstanding the minimum basic standards of adequate care specified in Section 11452, the family’s income, exclusive of any amounts considered exempt as income or paid pursuant to subdivision (e) or Section 11453.1, determined for the prospective semiannual period pursuant to Sections 11265.1, 11265.2, and 11265.3, and then calculated pursuant to Section 11451.5, shall be deducted from the sum specified in the following table, as adjusted for cost-of-living increases pursuant to Section 11453 and paragraph (2). In no case shall the amount of aid paid for each month exceed the sum specified in the following table, as adjusted for cost-of-living increases pursuant to Section 11453 and paragraph (2), plus any special needs, as specified in subdivisions (c), (e), and (f): Number of eligible needy persons in the same home Maximum aid 1 ........................ $ 326 2 ........................ 535 3 ........................ 663 4 ........................ 788 5 ........................ 899 6 ........................ 1,010 7 ........................ 1,109 8 ........................ 1,209 9 ........................ 1,306 10 or more ........................ 1,403 (B) If, when, and during those times that the United States government increases or decreases its contributions in assistance of needy children in this state above or below the amount paid on July 1, 1972, the amounts specified in the above table shall be increased or decreased by an amount equal to that increase or decrease by the United States government, provided that no increase or decrease shall be subject to subsequent adjustment pursuant to Section 11453. (2) The sums specified in paragraph (1) shall not be adjusted for cost of living for the 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, and 1997–98 fiscal years, and through October 31, 1998, nor shall that amount be included in the base for calculating any cost-of-living increases for any fiscal year thereafter. Elimination of the cost-of-living adjustment pursuant to this paragraph shall satisfy the requirements of former Section 11453.05, and no further reduction shall be made pursuant to that section. (b) (1) (A) Until the date that paragraph (2) is effective, if the family does not include a needy child qualified for aid under this chapter, aid shall be paid to a pregnant child who is 18 years of age or younger at any time after verification of pregnancy, in the amount that would otherwise be paid to one person, as specified in subdivision (a), if the pregnant child and the child, if born, would have qualified for aid under this chapter. Verification of pregnancy shall be required as a condition of eligibility for aid under this paragraph. (B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), and until the date that paragraph (2) is effective, if the family does not include a needy child qualified for aid under this chapter, aid shall be paid to a pregnant person for the month in which the birth is anticipated and for the six-month period immediately prior to the month in which the birth is anticipated, in the amount that would otherwise be paid to one person, as specified in subdivision (a), if the pregnant person and child, if born, would have qualified for aid under this chapter. Verification of pregnancy is required as a condition of eligibility for aid under this paragraph. (2) (A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), if the family does not include a needy child qualified for aid under this chapter, aid shall be paid to a pregnant person as of the date of the application for aid, in the amount that would otherwise be paid to one person, as specified in subdivision (a), if the pregnant person or the child, if born, would have qualified for aid under this chapter. Verification of pregnancy shall be required as a condition of eligibility for aid under this paragraph. (B) A pregnant person may provide verification of pregnancy as required in subparagraph (A) by means of a sworn statement or, if necessary, a verbal attestation. Medical verification of pregnancy shall be submitted within 30 working days following submission of the sworn statement or verbal attestation for benefits to continue. If the applicant fails to submit medical verification of pregnancy within 30 working days, the county human services agency shall continue aid when the applicant presents evidence of good faith efforts to comply with this requirement. (C) (i) A person who receives aid pursuant to this paragraph shall report to the county, orally or in writing, within 30 days following the end of their pregnancy. (ii) Aid for persons under this paragraph shall discontinue at the end of the month following the month in which the person reports the end of their pregnancy to the county human services agency. (iii) Prior to discontinuing aid for a person under this paragraph due to the end of their pregnancy, the county human services agency shall provide information about, and referral to, mental health services, including, but not limited to, services provided by the county human services agency, when appropriate. (D) This paragraph shall take effect on July 1, 2022, or on the date that the department notifies the Legislature that the California Statewide Automated Welfare System can perform the necessary automation to implement this paragraph, whichever date is later. (c) (1) The amount of forty-seven dollars ($47) per month shall be paid to a pregnant person qualified for aid under subdivision (a) or (b) to meet the special needs resulting from pregnancy if the pregnant person and child, if born, would have qualified for aid under this chapter. The county human services agency shall require a pregnant person to provide medical verification of pregnancy. The county human services agency shall refer all recipients of aid under this subdivision to a local provider of the California Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, and perinatal home visiting services administered by the county public health agency, county human services agency, or applicable county home visiting provider. If t [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]