BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Thousands of Kern County residents could lose their CalFresh food benefits due to changes from HR 1, commonly known as the "Big, Beautiful Bill," according to the Department of Human Services.
The legislation includes changes to age and work requirements, time limit rules, and eligibility for non-citizens here legally.
Work Requirements Expanded
SNAP's previous work requirement targeted 18-54-year-olds without children. The age range was raised to 64 effective Nov. 1, 2025, but California has waivers available until Jan. 1, 2026.
Exemptions changed as well. Previously, if you cared for kids of any age, you didn't have to work. That changed to kids 14 and under only. Veterans and people experiencing homelessness also lose exemptions under the new regulations.
According to a County DHS spokesperson, that could lead to nearly 19,000 people losing access to CalFresh.
Those 19,000 could use SNAP benefits for three months over a three-year period of not qualifying.
California had waivers that allowed participants to ignore those conditions.
"Over the last 6-7 years, California, like many other states, has had an ABAWD waiver. Which means that we didn't necessarily have to comply with this work requirement, which meant a lot more people were on the CalFresh program. Under HR one, those waivers go away," Lito Morillo, Director of Human Services for Kern County.
Non-Citizen Eligibility Changes
According to the California Association of Food Banks, certain non-citizens who are here lawfully are eligible for CalFresh, but when these changes take effect, that eligibility expires as well.
According to Kern County Human Services Director Lito Morillo, that includes 2,000 Kern County residents.
"CalFresh also limits benefits to legal permanent residents, and this is a change because prior to HR1, it used to allow for benefits to refugees, asylees, battered non-citizens, and trafficked victims. So now it's strictly only for legal permanent residents," Morillo said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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