By Genoveva Islas
On May 22, after an all-night session, the U.S. House of Representatives passed, by 215 to 214 votes, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” outlining a spending plan for the U.S. At this writing, the U.S. Senate is now voting on their proposed revisions to the bill. The Senate version of the bill then goes back to the House for agreement on final text. Congress is striving to send the bill to President Trump for a July 4 signature.
I am a lifelong Fresno resident where I am founder and executive director of Cultiva la Salud, a community-based organization that works to promote health for disadvantaged residents. I also proudly serve as a member of the Fresno Unified school board. As the first in my family to attend college, education is extremely meaningful to me. As someone who grew up in poverty, I also know the reality of hunger.
I have been following the details of this federal budget legislation to understand how it could impact California’s School Meals for All, a program that is important to me and to my school district. This program helps our kids be nourished and ready to learn. It improves their health and knits our school community together. Incorporating meals into the school day helps families’ food budgets. I am greatly concerned about the bill’s proposed changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (known in California as CalFresh and formerly known as Food Stamps) in Sections 10006, 10007 and 10008.
Historically, the federal government and each state split the administrative costs of SNAP 50/50, and the benefits themselves came entirely from the federal budget. SNAP recipients, nearly 5.5 million Californians or almost 14 percent of our state’s population, get about $6.16 per person, per day to boost their food budgets.
The current version of the bill proposes to “share” more of the cost of SNAP with states. It would make states responsible for 75 percent of the administrative costs and require them to foot the bill for anywhere from 5 percent to 25 percent of food benefit costs, dependent on a state’s SNAP payment-error rate. Payment errors include under- and overpayment of benefit amounts and errors commonly represent simple mistakes — not fraud. The latest payment error rate for California (for 2022–23) was 13.40, which places our state in the group that must “share” — or ante up — 25 percent of SNAP benefit costs.
At the 25 percent rate, California would need to find an estimated $3.1 billion annually in the state budget simply to maintain benefits for our vulnerable families as well as veterans and disabled individuals who don’t earn enough to make ends meet. Placing a new burden on our state budget is one threat to our ability to fund School Meals for All. Another threat to the meal program could come from a decrease in numbers of children who are “directly certified” (immediately eligible) for school meals through SNAP participation. This is because the bill proposes more stringent work requirements, which will kick some families out of the SNAP program. A drop in directly certified students means that school districts will need to work to collect meal applications for these children, placing burdens on families and school administrators alike.
We Californians should also be tracking any changes to the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). Under the CEP, if a certain percentage of students qualify for other federal benefits like SNAP, then the entire school or district qualifies for free meals. Historically, the threshold was 40 percent; more recently it was moved to 25 percent. This has enabled many of California’s school districts to streamline paperwork and receive reimbursement from the federal government for every school breakfast and lunch.
Although currently not part of the budget bill, recently, there has been talk in Congress of raising the threshold for a school or district to participate in CEP from 25 percent to 60 percent. If this were to happen, a greater portion of the cost of meals for an estimated 3 million children will be shifted from the federal budget to the California state budget. If California can no longer afford to operate School Meals for All, then school-age children will miss out on two meals daily at no charge. Some members of Congress have also suggested that income verification should be provided by every family that could be eligible for free- or reduced-price meals (to date there has been spot-checking verification of about 3 percent of applicants). Imagine the headache – and in some cases, fear — for families to provide, and school administrators to collect, income verification for the nearly 60 percent (almost 3.5 million) of California’s students whose families are under the federal poverty level.
It goes without saying that the federal funds that flow into California districts from SNAP and school meals boost local economies through jobs and businesses in agriculture and the food system — and that cuts in SNAP will increase hunger throughout our country, only making school meals more vital to disadvantaged families.
What can you do?
Every elected representative should know how their constituents feel about issues. School board members play a particularly important role in voicing concerns for the families and students they represent. Right now is the time to let your Representative in the House know your thoughts. Let them know how you see these potential changes affecting your school district budgets and ultimately the students and families you represent. If you’ve never contacted your representative before, it is easy. Each Congress member has a webpage with a “Contact Me” button. You can phone in or email your message. Let’s work to preserve School Meals for All.
Genoveva Islas is a trustee and board clerk in the Fresno Unified School District.
