Brown vetoes CalFresh work-requirement exemption bill

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Jerry Brown, at the urging of Sen. Joel Anderson, R-Alpine, vetoed Assembly Bill 2152, Sept. 14.

The bill would have required the California Department of Social Services to create a definition of “food insecurity” for counties to use to determine if an able-bodied adult without dependents is “unfit for work” and therefore exempt from work requirements to continue receiving CalFresh benefits.

Current federal law is that able-bodied adults without dependents can only receive up to three months of CalFresh benefits in a three-year period unless they meet a 20 hour per week requirement of work or job training.

Anderson sent a veto request letter to Brown Sept. 5, and argued that, “Assembly Bill 2152 is a backward looking solution to a very real problem of poverty in this state. Prudence and compassion would instead dictate that we stop extending a lifestyle of poverty and instead, provide and assist needy Californians with the necessary tools to overcome poverty permanently.”

Submitted by Sen. Joel Anderson’s office.