In front of the County Administration Center in downtown San Diego Thursday, Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe was joined by the leaders of two San Diego food banks.
They said federal policy has created a food crisis.
“When you add the combined effects of a partial government shutdown and a new federal fiscal budget, our food distributions have been averaging 230,000 households a month and climbing,” said Feeding San Diego CEO Bob Kamensky.
He said that number marks a 22% jump in need over the last year.
As of June 1, adults between 18 and 64 years old who receive food benefits now have to prove they’ve satisfied new federal work requirements. They need to show they worked, volunteered or attended job training at least 80 hours a month.
That now includes some veterans, people experiencing homelessness and former foster youth.
The change was part of House Resolution 1, or the "One, Big, Beautiful Bill" Act signed into law last July.
The county said this could lead to thousands of local residents losing their food benefits or having them reduced.
“Because of H.R. 1 more than 93,000 San Diegans are at risk of losing food assistance. That's not an accident, that's a policy choice, and it's a cruel one,” said San Diego County supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe.
In response, Montgomery Steppe is proposing the Safety Net Bridge Program. County supervisors will vote on the agenda item Thursday.
The program would use $1 million in the county’s upcoming yearly budget to hold additional food distribution events.
“Working alongside Feeding San Diego and San Diego Food Bank, we will bring food directly into communities expected to be hit hardest by H.R. 1. We will follow the data and adjust as needed to make sure resources are reaching people who need them the most,” the supervisor said.
If approved, the food distribution events are scheduled to be held in El Cajon, Chula Vista, Oceanside, Kearny Mesa and at two locations in Spring Valley. The county estimates a total of 96 events will take place throughout the year.
The distribution events will also offer benefit enrollment assistance.
“For those navigating the new H.R.1 work requirements, the San Diego Food Bank also provides county approved volunteer opportunities that can help meet those CalFresh eligibility requirements,” said Food Bank’s Vice President of Operations & Programs Brigitte Wesselink.
Montgomery Steppe's office said the new distribution events would start within 60 days if approved.
“When you take food away from struggling families, you don't create stronger communities. You create more instability, more hardship, more families pushed to the brink,” she said.
Montgomery Steppe said her staff will return to the Board in September with a plan for a pilot program to address federal changes to health insurance requirements.
The county estimates 314,000 county residents will be subject to new Medi-Cal work requirements that could put their health coverage at risk.
