The Assembly Human Services Committee advanced AB 2213 on Tuesday, while testimony on AB 2299 centered on warnings that roughly 665,000 Californians could lose food assistance if the state does not move to offset federal SNAP and CalFresh cuts tied to HR1.
The hearing’s anti-hunger focus came through in testimony that cited an estimate from the California Department of Social Services and said the federal law signed by President Donald Trump in July 2025 cut food and health benefits by $1.5 trillion. AB 2299, the California Anti-Hunger Response and Employment Training Act, was described in the committee record as a response to those cuts, but the available materials do not clearly show whether the bill itself advanced.
AB 2213, by contrast, did move forward. The bill would revive the California Healthy Food Financing Initiative to expand food access and reduce food deserts, and the transcript summary says it advanced to the Assembly Appropriations Committee on a 6-0 vote.
Taken together, the two bills suggest lawmakers are pursuing both short-term damage control and longer-term food-access infrastructure as California braces for possible losses in nutrition assistance.
The hearing also included testimony from advocates and social-service groups focused on food insecurity and related safety-net issues, underscoring how quickly federal policy changes are rippling into the state budget and local anti-hunger planning.
