Meal program: senior citizens.

Assembly Member Wallis, joined by Assembly Member Ahrens, proposes a revision of California’s senior nutrition framework that alters how meals are delivered to eligible older adults and aligns home-delivered meals with federal program rules.

The core change directs the state plan to mandate that nutrition projects for individuals aged 60 and older provide at least one meal per day for five or more days per week, with meals delivered in one of two ways: in-person or via to-go pickup intended for consumption in a virtual congregate setting by eligible individuals. The bill retains the option for contracting agencies to provide additional meals beyond the minimum, but it removes the requirement that those extra meals meet federal recommended dietary allowances. The proposal also preserves existing eligibility, site proximity, transportation, administrative, and nutrition education provisions, while emphasizing administrative methods to maximize participation and opportunities to address dietary needs arising from health, religious, or ethnic considerations.

A new provision adds a separate path for meals served outside of in-person or virtual congregate settings, allowing them to be provided under the federal Home Delivered Nutrition Services program, with compliance to the federal requirements governing that program. This creates a federal-aligned mechanism for home-delivered meals, described as not constrained by other state-law provisions when enacted under the Home Delivered Nutrition Services framework. The bill thereby links state planning and oversight with federal program rules for home-delivered meals, while continuing to operate within the aging services structure governed by state agencies and advisory bodies.

Implementation and oversight would continue under the existing California Department of Aging and the California Commission on Aging, with state-plan development and input from older Californians and field professionals. The bill requires fiscal review, but does not specify new state funding or appropriations within the text, leaving cost considerations to ongoing fiscal analysis and potential federal funding participation. Ambiguities exist around the operational definition of a “virtual congregate setting” and the transition mechanics between state-delivered and federally funded home-delivered meals, and there is no explicit effective date noted in the text. The enacted framework would depend on the enrolled measure’s final language and standard state-enactment timing.