SACRAMENTO, CA - As National Hunger Awareness Day approaches tomorrow, June 5, 2007, Assemblyman Mark Leno, who has worked extensively in the Legislature to bring relief to hungry Californians, is getting first-hand experience of the difficulties of living off food stamps this week, as he takes the California Association of Food Banks up on their “Food Stamp Challenge,” and lives on the national average food stamp budget of $21 for the week, or $3 per day.
“Most of us will never know the desperation a parent must feel when trying to feed their family nutritious foods using food stamps,” said Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco). “But for two million Californians on food stamps it’s an every day reality. Through the ‘Food Stamp Challenge’ I hope to raise awareness about hunger in California and gain a better understanding of what so many in the State experience.”
The Food Stamp Program helps feed more than 2 million low-income Californians, two-thirds of which are children. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is responsible for administering the Food Stamp Program, the nationwide average monthly benefit is $94.05, approximately $3 a day or $1 a meal.
AB 1382, which will be heard in the Assembly on Tuesday, June 5th, would remove California’s requirement that every adult household member must get fingerprinted and photographed in order to qualify for food stamps. California is one of only three states that have this requirement, and we rank among the worst in nation for food stamp participation. Only 34% of California’s working poor receive food stamps and we lose more than $2 billion in federal funds per year that could go to otherwise eligible California families. Additionally, such requirements have been made obsolete by sophisticated fraud detection systems including the Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards that track each transaction.
Last year Leno authored AB 2384 to develop a Healthy Food Purchase Pilot Program meant to improve access to fresh fruits and vegetables for food stamp recipients in low-income communities. In 2004 Leno authored AB 1796 which overturned a life time ban on food stamps for non-violent, former drug offenders.
Leno will keep a “Food Stamp Challenge” diary on his website that will be updated throughout the week: www.assembly.ca.gov/leno.
For those joining in gay marriages today, the road from outlaw status to respectability was paved in the Legislature over three decades.
From decriminalizing sex between same-sex couples, to outlawing job discrimination against homosexuals, to adding gay members to the legislative roster, the government has been taking steps, measure-by-measure, that have led to gay couples joining hands in marriage ceremonies across the state.
