SACRAMENTO, CA –Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) introduced legislation today that will expand and improve the CalFresh Employment and Training (E&T) program — providing job training and employment services across California and helping workers return to employment with quality jobs.

“The pandemic has proven that poverty doesn’t discriminate,” said Senator Hurtado, chair of the Senate Human Services Committee. “SB 609 takes a proven program and expands it by creating real opportunities no matter your background or education level.  CalFresh E&T is a win/win for California because participants are empowered to gain skills, training or work experience and employers that hire E&T participants earn tax credits. This bill is a key part of the agenda of the California Senate Committee on Human Services to move families out of poverty.”

SB 609 will establish the CalFresh Employment and Training (E&T) Expansion and Improvement Program to increase employment and training services as well as earning capacity across the state. The bill requires the state department that oversees the program to seek out contracts that provide services reflective of regional workforce needs and focus on serving – among others – English language learners, youth who are in or have aged out of the foster care system, farmworkers and members of the Native American community.

The bill also recognizes the needs of millions of people who lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic by making CalFresh employment and training services potentially available to those who live in counties where E&T is offered. Currently, thirty-seven counties across California operate a CalFresh employment and training program. Expanding this program will increase the resources available for CalFresh recipients seeking work, providing technical training, job skills and supportive services.

Media Contact: Jim.Evans@sen.ca.gov

About Senator Melissa Hurtado

Senator Melissa Hurtado represents a new generation of Latina leaders as the youngest woman ever elected to the California State Senate and a product of immigrant parents. Senator Hurtado represents the 14th Senate District and focuses on rural community issues that often go unheard — access to clean air and water, food insecurity and poverty, inequities in environmental policies, agriculture and access to health care. In July 2020, she was appointed to the national Biden Latino Leadership Committee alongside former Labor Secretary and current Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis – the only two California Latinas on the Committee.

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