Emergency food assistance.
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AB 221 — Emergency food assistance.
Last action — In committee: Held under submission.
No card. One bill, free forever — alerts when it moves.
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✓Introduced
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✓In Committee
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3Passed Assembly
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4Passed Senate
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5To Executive
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6Enacted
This bill died with 2021-2022 Regular Session. It reached “Passed Assembly” and never advanced before the session ended, so it can no longer move — a new version would have to be reintroduced in the current session.
This bill is no longer active — its legislative session has ended, so there is no live prognosis. It would have to be reintroduced in the current session to move again.
Summary
Existing law establishes and requires the State Department of Social Services to administer the CalFood Program to provide food and funding to food banks whose primary function is to facilitate the distribution of food to low-income households, as specified. This bill would require the department to provide a food assistance benefit to low-income California residents, regardless of immigration status, by contracting with nonprofit entities, as defined, to issue the food assistance benefit in the form of prepaid cards. The bill would require the department to procure the prepaid cards to administer the food assistance benefit and to ensure the availability of those prepaid cards to nonprofit entities, as specified. The bill would require participating nonprofit entities to maintain specified records. The bill would require the department and nonprofit entities to distribute all of the food assistance benefits by July 1, 2023. The bill would authorize the department to implement, interpret, or make specific these provisions without taking regulatory action. The bill would exempt contracts awarded pursuant to these provisions from personal services contracting requirements, the Public Contract Code, and the State Contracting Manual, and the contracts would not be subject to the approval of the Department of General Services. The bill would make these provisions operative upon appropriation. The bill would require the department, in consultation with a workgroup, to author a report to provide recommendations and solutions for a permanent food assistance program for low-income California residents experiencing food insecurity, to complete that report by January 1, 2023, and to submit a copy of that report to the Legislature, as specified. This bill would repeal its provisions on January 1, 2025. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Bill Text
- Amended 06/24/21 - Amended Senate Current pdf June 24, 2021
- Amended 06/14/21 - Amended Senate pdf June 14, 2021
- Amended 03/30/21 - Amended Assembly pdf March 30, 2021
- Introduced 01/11/21 - Introduced pdf January 11, 2021
- AB221 View text html
Action History
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In committee: Held under submission.
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In committee: Referred to suspense file.
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Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
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From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 4. Noes 1.) (June 22).
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From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on HUMAN S.
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Referred to Com. on HUMAN S.
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In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.
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Read third time. Urgency clause adopted. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 71. Noes 0. Page 1721.).
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Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
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From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 14. Noes 0.) (May 20).
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In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file.
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From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (April 7). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
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Coauthors revised.
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Re-referred to Com. on HUM. S.
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From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on HUM. S. Read second time and amended.
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Referred to Com. on HUM. S.
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From printer. May be heard in committee February 11.
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Read first time. To print.
Sponsors
- Santiago · Primary
- Chiu · Cosponsor
- Robert Rivas · Cosponsor
- Mike A. Gipson · Cosponsor
- Burke · Cosponsor
- Chau · Cosponsor
- Timothy S. Grayson · Cosponsor
- Blanca E. Rubio · Cosponsor
- Villapudua · Cosponsor
- Dodd · Cosponsor
- Maria Elena Durazo · Cosponsor
- Kamlager · Cosponsor
- Scott D. Wiener · Cosponsor
- Robert Rivas · Cosponsor
- Robert Garcia · Cosponsor
- Juan Carrillo · Cosponsor
- Blanca E. Rubio · Cosponsor
- Mark Stone · Cosponsor
Sponsorship breakdown
Export CSV (upgrade) →1 sponsors · 17 co-sponsors · 104 not signed on · 1 voted No
Sponsors (1)
- Santiago
Co-sponsors (17)
- Chiu
- Rivas, Robert Democratic
- Gipson, Mike A. Democratic
- Burke
- Chau
- Grayson, Timothy S. Democratic
- Rubio, Blanca E. Democratic
- Villapudua
- Dodd
- Durazo, Maria Elena Democratic
- Kamlager
- Wiener, Scott D. Democratic
- Rivas, Robert Democratic
- Garcia, Robert Democratic
- Carrillo, Juan Democratic
- Rubio, Blanca E. Democratic
- Mark Stone
Not signed on (104)
104 members have not signed on to this bill.
Show all 104 →"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.
Votes
| Party | Yea | Nay | Present | Not Voting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unaffiliated | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Democratic | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| % of votes cast | 100% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
How each member voted (7)
| Member | Party | Vote |
|---|---|---|
| Wieckowski | — | Yea |
| Portantino | — | Yea |
| Bates | — | Yea |
| Bradford | — | Yea |
| Kamlager | — | Yea |
| Laird, John | Democratic | Yea |
| Jones, Brian W. | Republican | Yea |
| Party | Yea | Nay | Present | Not Voting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unaffiliated | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Democratic | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Republican | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| % of votes cast | 80% | 20% | 0% | 0% |
How each member voted (5)
| Member | Party | Vote |
|---|---|---|
| Kamlager | — | Yea |
| Pan | — | Yea |
| Cortese, Dave | Democratic | Yea |
| Hurtado, Melissa | Democratic | Yea |
| Jones, Brian W. | Republican | Nay |
| Party | Yea | Nay | Present | Not Voting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unaffiliated | 38 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Republican | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Total | 71 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| % of votes cast | 90% | 0% | 0% | 10% |
How each member voted (79)
| Member | Party | Vote |
|---|---|---|
| Bloom | — | Yea |
| Friedman | — | Yea |
| Voepel | — | Yea |
| Cooley | — | Yea |
| Mathis | — | Yea |
| Chiu | — | Yea |
| Rendon | — | Yea |
| Mullin | — | Yea |
| Holden | — | Yea |
| Villapudua | — | Yea |
| Salas | — | Yea |
| Cooper | — | Yea |
| Chau | — | Yea |
| Smith | — | Not Voting |
| Kiley | — | Not Voting |
| Bigelow | — | Not Voting |
| Jones-Sawyer | — | Yea |
| Santiago | — | Yea |
| Maienschein | — | Yea |
| Rodriguez | — | Yea |
| Quirk | — | Yea |
| Mayes | — | Yea |
| Nazarian | — | Yea |
| Wood | — | Yea |
| Ting | — | Yea |
| Low | — | Yea |
| Frazier | — | Yea |
| Levine | — | Yea |
| O'Donnell | — | Yea |
| Waldron | — | Yea |
| Daly | — | Yea |
| McCarty | — | Yea |
| Medina | — | Yea |
| Gray | — | Yea |
| Burke | — | Yea |
| Cunningham | — | Yea |
| Cristina Garcia | — | Yea |
| Eduardo Garcia | — | Yea |
| Lorena Gonzalez | — | Yea |
| Luz Rivas | — | Yea |
| Mark Stone | — | Yea |
| Aguiar-Curry, Cecilia M. | Democratic | Yea |
| Arambula, Joaquin | Democratic | Yea |
| Bauer-Kahan, Rebecca | Democratic | Yea |
| Bennett, Steve | Democratic | Yea |
| Berman, Marc | Democratic | Yea |
| Boerner, Tasha | Democratic | Yea |
| Bryan, Isaac G. | Democratic | Yea |
| Calderon, Lisa | Democratic | Yea |
| Carrillo, Juan | Democratic | Yea |
| Cervantes, Sabrina | Democratic | Yea |
| Fong, Mike | Democratic | Yea |
| Gabriel, Jesse | Democratic | Yea |
| Gipson, Mike A. | Democratic | Yea |
| Grayson, Timothy S. | Democratic | Yea |
| Irwin, Jacqui | Democratic | Yea |
| Kalra, Ash | Democratic | Yea |
| Lee, Alex | Democratic | Yea |
| Muratsuchi, Al | Democratic | Yea |
| Nguyen, Stephanie | Democratic | Yea |
| Petrie-Norris, Cottie | Democratic | Yea |
| Quirk-Silva, Sharon | Democratic | Yea |
| Ramos, James C. | Democratic | Yea |
| Reyes, Eloise Gómez | Democratic | Yea |
| Rivas, Robert | Democratic | Yea |
| Rubio, Blanca E. | Democratic | Yea |
| Ward, Christopher M. | Democratic | Yea |
| Weber Pierson, M.D., Akilah | Democratic | Yea |
| Wicks, Buffy | Democratic | Yea |
| Chen, Phillip | Republican | Not Voting |
| Choi, Steven S. | Republican | Not Voting |
| Dahle, Megan | Republican | Not Voting |
| Davies, Laurie | Republican | Not Voting |
| Flora, Heath | Republican | Yea |
| Gallagher, James | Republican | Yea |
| Lackey, Tom | Republican | Yea |
| Patterson, Joe | Republican | Yea |
| Seyarto, Kelly | Republican | Not Voting |
| Valladares, Suzette Martinez | Republican | Yea |
| Party | Yea | Nay | Present | Not Voting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unaffiliated | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Democratic | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Republican | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 14 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| % of votes cast | 88% | 0% | 0% | 13% |
How each member voted (16)
| Member | Party | Vote |
|---|---|---|
| Levine | — | Yea |
| Holden | — | Yea |
| Quirk | — | Yea |
| Chau | — | Yea |
| Bigelow | — | Not Voting |
| Eduardo Garcia | — | Yea |
| Lorena Gonzalez | — | Yea |
| Luz Rivas | — | Yea |
| Calderon, Lisa | Democratic | Yea |
| Carrillo, Juan | Democratic | Yea |
| Fong, Mike | Democratic | Yea |
| Gabriel, Jesse | Democratic | Yea |
| Rivas, Robert | Democratic | Yea |
| Weber Pierson, M.D., Akilah | Democratic | Yea |
| Dahle, Megan | Republican | Not Voting |
| Davies, Laurie | Republican | Yea |
| Party | Yea | Nay | Present | Not Voting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Republican | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Unaffiliated | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| % of votes cast | 88% | 0% | 0% | 13% |
How each member voted (8)
| Member | Party | Vote |
|---|---|---|
| Villapudua | — | Yea |
| Mark Stone | — | Yea |
| Arambula, Joaquin | Democratic | Yea |
| Calderon, Lisa | Democratic | Yea |
| Gipson, Mike A. | Democratic | Yea |
| Ward, Christopher M. | Democratic | Yea |
| Choi, Steven S. | Republican | Not Voting |
| Davies, Laurie | Republican | Yea |
Subjects
Frequently asked questions
- What does AB 221 do?
- Existing law establishes and requires the State Department of Social Services to administer the CalFood Program to provide food and funding to food banks whose primary function is to facilitate the distribution of food to low-income households, as specified. This bill would require the department to provide a food assistance benefit to low-income California residents, regardless of immigration status, by contracting with nonprofit entities, as defined, to issue the food assistance benefit in the form of prepaid cards. The bill would require the department to procure the prepaid cards to administer the food assistance benefit and to ensure the availability of those prepaid cards to nonprofit entities, as specified. The bill would require participating nonprofit entities to maintain specified records. The bill would require the department and nonprofit entities to distribute all of the food assistance benefits by July 1, 2023. The bill would authorize the department to implement, interpret, or make specific these provisions without taking regulatory action. The bill would exempt contracts awarded pursuant to these provisions from personal services contracting requirements, the Public Contract Code, and the State Contracting Manual, and the contracts would not be subject to the approval of the Department of General Services. The bill would make these provisions operative upon appropriation. The bill would require the department, in consultation with a workgroup, to author a report to provide recommendations and solutions for a permanent food assistance program for low-income California residents experiencing food insecurity, to complete that report by January 1, 2023, and to submit a copy of that report to the Legislature, as specified. This bill would repeal its provisions on January 1, 2025. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
- Who sponsors AB 221?
- AB 221 is sponsored by Santiago, Chiu, Rivas, Robert (Democratic), Gipson, Mike A. (Democratic), Burke, Chau, Grayson, Timothy S. (Democratic), Rubio, Blanca E. (Democratic), Villapudua, Dodd, Durazo, Maria Elena (Democratic), Kamlager, Wiener, Scott D. (Democratic), Garcia, Robert (Democratic), Carrillo, Juan (Democratic), and Mark Stone.
- What is the current status of AB 221?
- This bill died with 2021-2022 Regular Session. It reached “Passed Assembly” and never advanced before the session ended, so it can no longer move — a new version would have to be reintroduced in the current session.
- Where can I track AB 221?
- Track AB 221 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.
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