The 2026-27 Budget: Food Assistance Programs

Feb 18, 2026 - To be eligible, households generally must earn less than 200  percent of the federal poverty level. CalFresh benefits can be used to buy most groceries and some prepared food at participating vendors, which include most grocery and convenience stores.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5126

Implementing California’s Child Welfare Prevention Services Program

Jan 28, 2026 - As a result, counties can only use local and state block grant dollars to implement new or expand existing prevention services in the meantime. Some counties are taking the approach of trying to hold off on using some of their state block grant dollars until they can begin drawing down Title IV ‑E matching funds.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5106

The 2026-27 Budget: CalWORKs

Feb 18, 2026 - Before accounting for other changes in spending levels, this unspent TANF funding results in a downward swing in General Fund dollars in CalWORKs in 2025-26. This is followed by a swing back upward in 2026-27 because whether there will be additional unspent TANF funds to offset costs in 2026-27 is not yet known.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5122

The 2026-27 Budget: Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment (SSI/SSP) Program

Mar 3, 2026 - The 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24 SSP grant increases were based on specific dollar amounts set in statute. Statute required the Department of Finance to estimate what percentage grant increase could be supported by a half-year cost of $291  million in 2021-22 (estimated to be about $580  million in 2022-23), a half-year cost of $150  million in 2022-23 (estimated to be about
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5148

The 2026-27 Budget: County Administration and H.R. 1 Implementation

Mar 5, 2026 - Backfilling lost federal benefits under H.R.  1 would require billions of dollars in additional budget solutions. …While Counties Face Multiple Cost Pressures. H.R.  1 also puts strain on county finances.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5149