Welfare and Institutions Code § 18906.55

18906.55.

(a) (1) Notwithstanding Section 18906.5 or any other law, in order to provide fiscal relief for the substantial fiscal pressures on counties created by the unprecedented and unanticipated increase in CalFresh administrative costs as a result of federal H.R. 1 (Public Law 119-21), for the 2026–27 to 2028–29 fiscal years, inclusive, the amount of a county’s share of the nonfederal costs for administration of CalFresh is capped at the amount the county expended in its contribution in the 2024–25 fiscal year, or the amount the county was required to contribute to receive its full allocation of state General Fund moneys under the Budget Act of 2024 (Chapter 35 of the Statutes of 2024), whichever amount is lower.

(2) Once a county has reached the nonfederal share of costs specified in paragraph (1) , the county shall receive the full General Fund allocation for administration of CalFresh for that fiscal year.

(3) If projected or estimated costs for the administration of CalFresh decline such that a county’s required contribution to receive its full allocation of state General Fund moneys would be less than the amount specified in paragraph (1) , the county’s contribution shall be decreased accordingly and shall be readjusted to be commensurate with cost-sharing ratios of total costs consistent with Section 18906.5. Any such adjustment shall be determined by the department in consultation with the County Welfare Directors Association of California.

(b) The full General Fund allocation for administration of CalFresh for July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2029, inclusive, pursuant to subdivision (a), shall equal 70 percent of the nonfederal projected funding need for administration of CalFresh.

(c) Relief to the county share of administrative costs authorized by this section shall not result in any increased cost to the General Fund, as determined in subdivision (b).

(d) Subdivision (a) does not prevent a county from expending funds in excess of the amount specified in subdivision (a).

(e) In recognition of county cost pressures, the county share of costs otherwise required pursuant to Section 18906.5 shall be waived for the twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) General Fund appropriated and allocated pursuant to Provision 17 of Section 188 of the Budget Act of 2025 (Chapter 104 of the Statutes 2025).

(f) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2030, and, as of January 1, 2031, is repealed.