Bill Text: CA SB411 | 2025-2026 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Stop Child Hunger Act of 2025.
Sponsorship: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)
Status: (Vetoed) 2026-03-02 - Veto sustained. [SB411 Detail]
Download: California-2025-SB411-Enrolled.html
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Enrolled
September 12, 2025 |
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Passed
IN
Senate
September 09, 2025 |
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Passed
IN
Assembly
September 08, 2025 |
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Amended
IN
Assembly
September 02, 2025 |
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Amended
IN
Assembly
July 07, 2025 |
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Amended
IN
Senate
May 23, 2025 |
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Amended
IN
Senate
March 20, 2025 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
Senate Bill
No. 411
| Introduced by Senator Pérez (Coauthor: Senator Ochoa Bogh) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Gabriel and Lee) |
February 14, 2025 |
An act to amend Sections 49506 and 49557 of the Education Code, and to amend Section 18901.57 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to pupil meals.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 411, Pérez.
Stop Child Hunger Act of 2025.
Existing federal law establishes the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children (Summer EBT) program, under which pupils who are eligible for free and reduced-price school meals receive $40 per month, with specified adjustments, during summer months for grocery benefits. Existing federal regulations require, by 2025, the designated state agency to make a Summer EBT application available to households whose children are enrolled in schools participating in the National School Lunch Program or the School Breakfast Program and who do not already have an individual eligibility determination.
Existing state law requires the State Department of Social Services, as the lead agency in partnership with the State Department of Education, to maximize participation in the Summer EBT program. Existing law requires the governing board of a school
district and the county superintendent of schools to make paper applications for free or reduced-price meals available to pupils at all times during each regular schoolday.
Existing law authorizes those entities to make an application electronically available online if the online application complies with certain requirements, including, among others, the inclusion of links to certain internet websites providing information on, and applications for, other government programs, such as CalFresh.
This bill, the Stop Child Hunger Act of 2025, would require, upon an appropriation made by the Legislature, the State Department of Education, with support from the State Department of Social Services, to comply with the above-described
federal regulations by developing, and providing families with, a statewide application that is made available through a single statewide internet website that enables families to submit federally required information relating to the Summer EBT program, as specified. The bill would require the internet website to, among other things, have the capability of routing a family’s completed information to the family’s local educational agency to determine Summer EBT eligibility.
The bill would require the governing board of a school district, a county superintendent of schools, and the governing body of a charter school to make the above-described paper applications available if required by federal law and guidance, as specified.
The bill would require the governing board of a school district, a county office of education, the governing body of a charter school, or a school food authority that provides an application online for free or reduced-price meals, as described above, to also provide links to the internet website providing information about the Summer EBT program.
To the extent that the bill would create new duties for local educational agencies or county or other local officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Stop Child Hunger Act of 2025.SEC. 2.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) No child in California should experience hunger, and all children deserve access to nutrition year round.
(b) Families across the country are struggling to afford healthy and adequate groceries.
(c) California has led the nation in establishing a universal school meals program for all students, ensuring access to healthy, locally grown breakfasts and lunches during the school year, and in implementing the federal Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children (Summer EBT)
program, known in California as SUN Bucks, which provided five million children with a supplemental food benefit in summer of 2024.
(d) These programs have made life more affordable for families with children, helping to reduce monthly food bills by an average of $150 per week.
(e) The United States Congress established the Summer EBT program as the first new federal entitlement in decades, under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (Public Law 117-328), as set forth in Section 1762 of Title 42 of the United States Code. In turn, SUN Bucks was launched in summer of 2024.
(f) SUN Bucks, based on a pilot program that produced a decade of evidence that it reduced hunger and helped the hungriest children the
most, is remarkably effective in reducing summer child hunger.
(g) California is urged to build on its leadership in the fight against child hunger by extending these child nutrition programs to prevent hunger among children during school closures of a week or more and during disasters that cause schools to close.
(h) The Legislature is urged to direct the SUN Bucks administrating departments, including the State Department of Social Services, as the lead SUN Bucks agency, and the State Department of Education, to annually maximize receipt of as much as $216 million in federally funded food assistance for the 1.8 million children who need to apply, and to protect the private information of participating families by immediately implementing Section 292.13 of Title 7 of the Code of
Federal Regulations, which requires states to provide a statewide application for the Summer EBT program.
(i) The United States Department of Agriculture has established that every $1 in federal food aid creates as much as $1.80 in total gross domestic product (GDP), as benefits support California’s vital food economy and workers. Accordingly, increasing access to federally funded meals and food benefits is not only good for children, but also good for our economy.
(j) A statewide web application will support families who have been devastated by the firestorms in the County of Los Angeles and who are already navigating the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and programs to easily access the food aid to which their children are federally
entitled.
SEC. 3.
Section 49506 of the Education Code is amended to read:49506.
(a) (1) The department shall work with the State Department of Social Services to maximize participation in the federal Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children (Summer EBT) program established pursuant to Section 1762 of Title 42 of the United States Code.(2) The department shall share all data determined by the departments to be necessary to adhere to the requirements of paragraph (1) and Section 18901.57 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(b) The department shall follow the federal guidelines and regulations established pursuant to Section 502 of Title IV of Division HH of the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 to maximize flexibility for local educational agencies, including school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools, to distribute summer meals through noncongregate distributions.
(c) (1) Upon an appropriation made by the Legislature for the express purpose of implementing this subdivision, the department, with support from the State Department of Social Services, shall comply with Section 292.13 of Title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations by developing, and providing families with, a statewide application that is made available through a single statewide internet website that enables families to
submit federally required information and that adheres to all of the following:
(A) Is made available with sufficient time for families to apply for summer of 2028 benefits.
(B) Has the ability to, upon completion of the application, be routed to the applicant family’s local educational
agency to determine Summer EBT eligibility.
(C) Meets the requirements of Section 102 of Chapter 38 of the Statutes of 2024.
(D) Is limited, with regard to information requested, to minimum requirements under federal law and guidance.
(E) Is translated with accessible language into at least all threshold languages that are required for the CalFresh program.
(2) Implementation of paragraph (1) shall be in accordance with the funding timeline of any appropriation made pursuant to paragraph (1).
(d) The statewide application developed pursuant to subdivision (c) shall not be subject to the Project Approval Lifecycle of the Department of Technology, pursuant to Section 4819.35 of the State Administrative Manual and all other relevant sections.
(e) Upon request, a school district, county office of education, or charter school shall make an electronic device available for families to use to access the statewide application developed pursuant to subdivision (c).
SEC. 4.
Section 49557 of the Education Code is amended to read:49557.
(a) (1) If required by federal law and guidance, the governing board of a school district, the county superintendent of schools, and the governing body of a charter school shall make paper applications for free or reduced-price meals available to pupils at all times during each regular schoolday, and may also make an application electronically available online, provided that the online application complies with paragraph (3). If required by federal law and guidance, the application shall contain clear instructions for families that are homeless or are migrants, and shall also contain, in at least 8-point boldface type, each of the following statements:(A) Applications for free and reduced-price meals may be submitted at any time during a schoolday.
(B) Children participating in the federal National School Lunch Program will not be overtly identified by the use of special tokens, special tickets, special serving lines, separate entrances, separate dining areas, or by any other means.
(2) A school district, county superintendent of schools, or charter school shall use all other paper applications that it has for free or reduced-price meals before using the applications pursuant to this subdivision.
(3) If the governing board of a school district, a county office of education, the governing body of a charter school, or a school food authority chooses to
provide access to an online application for free or reduced-price meals pursuant to paragraph (1), the online application shall comply with all of the following requirements:
(A) Include a link to the internet website on which translated applications are posted by the United States Department of Agriculture, with instructions in that language that inform the applicant how to submit the application. The Legislature finds and declares that federal guidelines require school food authorities to accept and process these applications if they are submitted to the school food authority.
(B) Require completion of only those questions that are necessary for determining eligibility.
(C) Include clear instructions for families that are
homeless or are migrants.
(D) Comply with the privacy rights and disclosure protections established by the federal Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (Public Law 113-79) and the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-277).
(E) Include links to all of the following:
(i) The online application to CalFresh.
(ii) The online single state application for health care.
(iii) The internet website maintained by the State Department of Public Health entitled “About WIC and How to Apply,” or another internet website identified by the State Department of Public
Health that connects families to the California Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC Program).
(iv) The internet website of a summer lunch program authorized to participate within the city or school district.
(v) The internet website providing information about the federal Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children (Summer EBT) program established pursuant to Section 1762 of Title 42 of the United States Code.
(F) No online application for free or reduced-price meals shall be made available online or made accessible online by a school district, a county office of education, a charter school, or a school food authority if the online application allows for the information provided
by an applicant to be used by a private entity for any purpose not related to the administration of a school food program, or if the online application requires an applicant to waive any right or to create a user account in order to submit the application.
(b) The governing board of each school district, each county superintendent of schools, and the governing body of each charter school shall formulate a plan for schools that do not serve meals universally to all children, which shall be mailed to the department for its approval, that will ensure that children eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals and milk shall not be treated differently from other children. These plans shall ensure each of the following:
(1) Unless otherwise specified, the names of the children shall not
be published, posted, or announced in any manner, or used for any purpose other than the federal National School Lunch Program.
(2) There shall be no overt identification of any of the children by the use of special tokens or tickets or by any other means.
(3) The children shall not be required to work for their meals or milk.
(4) The children shall not be required to use a separate dining area, go through a separate serving line, enter the dining area through a separate entrance, or consume their meals or milk at a different time.
SEC. 5.
Section 18901.57 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:18901.57.
(a) The department, as the lead agency in partnership with the State Department of Education, shall maximize participation in the federal Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children (Summer EBT) program established pursuant to Section 1762 of Title 42 of the United States Code.(b) The department shall support the State Department of Education in implementing the requirements described in subdivision (c) of Section 49506 of the Education Code with regard to developing, and providing families with, a statewide application that is made available through a single statewide internet website for purposes of the Summer EBT program.
