State Emergency Food Bank Reserve Program: diapers and wipes.

Calderon, joined by coauthors Aguiar-Curry, Limón, and Richardson, reframes the State Emergency Food Bank Reserve Program to explicitly add children’s diapers and wipes as eligible supplies and to authorize their purchase, distribution, and related reimbursements in communities facing disasters or emergencies. The bill also defines eligible recipients to include EFAP and CSFP participants operating in California, Feeding America affiliates based in the state, and members of the California Association of Food Banks. This framing positions diaper and wipe distribution as a formal component of the program alongside emergency food.

Key mechanisms and details center on how the expanded program operates during declared disasters. The Department of Social Services would distribute funds for the listed purposes upon a disaster proclamation and determine distribution methods to align with the authorized uses. Authorized uses include purchasing and distributing food, reimbursing food banks for food-related costs, purchasing and distributing diapers and wipes, and reimbursing for diaper and wipe-related costs in eligible communities. The bill provides procurement exemptions from certain state contracting rules and the State Contracting Manual, and it allows implementation through informal guidance rather than formal rulemaking. In addition, a finding associates the program with assistance available to undocumented persons under specified federal authorities.

The bill’s fiscal framing emphasizes that funding remains subject to appropriation and references prior Budget Act allocations without creating a new explicit appropriation within the text. It broadens the program’s scope without altering CalWORKs’ existing diaper aid, which remains a separate benefit outside the SEFBRP. The definition of “eligible communities” and the eligible recipient pool are limited to the specified categories, with the department retaining discretion to identify distribution parameters in practice. The legislation also asserts that the chapter provides assistance for undocumented persons, a finding intended to clarify eligibility considerations within the federal framework cited.

In a broader policy and implementation context, the measure expands the SEFBRP’s safety-net role by linking disaster response to nonfood essential supplies, potentially increasing coordination with existing food-bank networks. The reliance on appropriations and the exemption from certain procurement and rulemaking processes shape how quickly and through what controls the program can scale, while the lack of a defined operative date or sunset leaves the timing contingent on future budgets and emergency declarations. Stakeholders include the Department of Social Services, participating food banks and their networks, CalWORKs participants and other low-income families, local governments, and institutions overseeing procurement and accountability, with attention to how undocumented individuals may access SEFBRP-supported diapers and wipes under the cited federal authorities.