republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20212022/ab-396.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "CalFresh: educational programs."
description: "Existing federal law provides for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) , known in California as CalFresh, formerly the Food Stamp Program, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Under existing state law, households are eligible to receive CalFresh benefits to the extent permitted by federal law. Existing federal law provides that students who are enrolled in college or other institutions of higher education at least half-time are not eligible for SNAP benefits unless they meet one of several specified exemptions, including participating in an employment and training program for low-income households that is operated by a state or local government, as specified."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20212022"
identifier: "AB 396"
citation: "California AB 396 (20212022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["CalFresh: educational programs."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Gabriel"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 29
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2021-02-03"
last_action: "2021-10-04"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/cfd9a6c0-3d08-49dd-ba5c-8b80f2ed34de"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB396"
source_hash: "013bcde044d0127aca41ad857e61162d02cb15ef30783183c0b6bcd558d365a5"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California AB 396 (20212022) — CalFresh: educational programs.

Existing federal law provides for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) , known in California as CalFresh, formerly the Food Stamp Program, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Under existing state law, households are eligible to receive CalFresh benefits to the extent permitted by federal law. Existing federal law provides that students who are enrolled in college or other institutions of higher education at least half-time are not eligible for SNAP benefits unless they meet one of several specified exemptions, including participating in an employment and training program for low-income households that is operated by a state or local government, as specified.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/03/21 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB396&version=20210AB39699INT)
2. **03/29/21 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB396&version=20210AB39698AMD)
3. **06/24/21 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB396&version=20210AB39697AMD)
4. **09/01/21 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB396&version=20210AB39696AMD)
5. **10/04/21 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB396&version=20210AB39694CHP)
6. **AB396** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB396)
7. **09/10/21 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB396&version=20210AB39695ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading AB396 Gabriel et al. By Hurtado — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- AB 396 Gabriel Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **78–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. — **16–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Human Services] — **11–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 396 Gabriel Assembly Third Reading — **78–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Education] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **5–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Gabriel — primary (person)
- Hurtado — principal coauthor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-02-03** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2021-02-04** From printer. May be heard in committee March 6.
- **2021-02-12** Referred to Coms. on HIGHER ED. and HUM. S. `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-29** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on HIGHER ED. Read second time and amended. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-03-30** Re-referred to Com. on HIGHER ED. `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-12** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on HUM. S. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (April 8). Re-referred to Com. on HUM. S. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2021-04-22** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 8. Noes 0.) (April 21). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2021-05-05** In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2021-05-20** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 16. Noes 0.) (May 20). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-05-24** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-05-27** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 78. Noes 0. Page 1601.) `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2021-05-28** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2021-06-09** Referred to Coms. on HUMAN S. and ED. `referral-committee`
- **2021-06-23** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on ED. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (June 22). `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2021-06-24** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on ED. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2021-07-07** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (July 7). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2021-08-16** From committee: Be ordered to second reading file pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8 and ordered to Consent Calendar. `committee-passage, reading-2`
- **2021-08-17** Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-08-23** From Consent Calendar.
- **2021-08-23** Ordered to third reading.
- **2021-09-01** Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2021-09-02** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-09-07** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 37. Noes 0. Page 2461.). `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2021-09-07** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after September 9 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
- **2021-09-08** Assembly Rule 77 suspended. (Ayes 59. Noes 17. Page 2875.)
- **2021-09-08** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 78. Noes 0. Page 2902.). `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-09-15** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 5 p.m.
- **2021-10-04** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2021-10-04** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 461, Statutes of 2021. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/cfd9a6c0-3d08-49dd-ba5c-8b80f2ed34de`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).