Governor Brown Signs Disaster Assistance Bill AB 607 in to Law

California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law legislation by California State Assemblymember Todd Gloria (D-San Diego) that will protect California’s most vulnerable during and after declared states of emergency. AB 607, known as the Community Resiliency and Disaster Preparedness Act of 2017, takes steps to ensure that Californians who receive public assistance can continue to access their benefits both during and after declared states of emergencies. 

California Association of Food Banks and food bank member San Diego Food Bank co-sponsored the bill along with Western Center on Law and Poverty.

AB 607 reduces bureaucratic red tape and rectifies a situation in current state law that could cause recipients of CalWORKs or CalFresh to lose their benefits as a result of being displaced from their home county due to a natural disaster. AB 607 also calls for a strong disaster response from government-administered programs to ensure California is prepared for disaster declarations at the county, state, and federal levels.

You can read the entire law here.

(Wildfire photo by USFWS)