Every day in our pediatric clinic, I see the quiet signs of hunger in Sacramento’s children: a 5-year-old whose stomachaches keep her out of kindergarten, and a middle-schooler who can’t focus because dinner was a bag of chips. For more than a quarter-million people in Sacramento County, the state’s CalFresh program —California’s version of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — keeps food on the table.
But the future of those benefits is uncertain because of the ongoing federal government shutdown and delays in federal funding.
Until recently, November benefits were expected to be paid on schedule. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture signaled that, without a congressional appropriation for the current fiscal year, it lacked the authority to fund SNAP for all recipients. Congress’ lack of progress on passing a 2026 budget package has triggered the ongoing federal government shutdown and funding shortfalls for critical safety-net programs like SNAP/CalFresh…