republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20192020/ab-494.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "CalFresh: eligibility: shelter expense deductions."
description: "Existing federal law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) , known in California as CalFresh, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Under existing law, the State Department of Social Services is charged with state administration of the CalFresh program. Federal and state regulations establish allowable income deductions for the purpose of establishing CalFresh eligibility, including a deduction for excess shelter costs, as specified."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20192020"
identifier: "AB 494"
citation: "California AB 494 (20192020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["CalFresh: eligibility: shelter expense deductions."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Berman"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 19
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2019-02-12"
last_action: "2019-07-12"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d341e5a6-aace-4735-8f53-288f59235a68"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB494"
source_hash: "5ef2d5ef6eafc1d9987319c48b293d502925ba7bf8627dbfeac4f654a491ffa9"
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 494 (20192020) — CalFresh: eligibility: shelter expense deductions.

Existing federal law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) , known in California as CalFresh, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county. Under existing law, the State Department of Social Services is charged with state administration of the CalFresh program. Federal and state regulations establish allowable income deductions for the purpose of establishing CalFresh eligibility, including a deduction for excess shelter costs, as specified.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/12/19 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB494&version=20190AB49499INT)
2. **03/20/19 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB494&version=20190AB49498AMD)
3. **07/12/19 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB494&version=20190AB49496CHP)
4. **AB494** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB494)
5. **07/03/19 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB494&version=20190AB49497ENR)

## Votes

- Consent Calendar (Urgency Clause) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **5–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. — **14–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 494 Berman Third Reading Urgency — **74–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **8–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Berman — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-02-12** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2019-02-13** From printer. May be heard in committee March 15.
- **2019-02-21** Referred to Com. on HUM. S. `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-20** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on HUM. S. Read second time and amended. `reading-1, reading-2, amendment-passage, amendment-introduction`
- **2019-03-21** Re-referred to Com. on HUM. S. `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-27** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 8. Noes 0.) (March 26). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-04-10** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 14. Noes 0.) (April 10). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2019-04-11** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2019-04-22** Read third time. Urgency clause adopted. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 74. Noes 0. Page 1258.). `passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2019-04-23** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2019-05-01** Referred to Com. on HUMAN S. `referral-committee`
- **2019-06-11** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (June 10). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-06-24** From committee: Be ordered to second reading file pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8 and ordered to Consent Calendar. `committee-passage, reading-2`
- **2019-06-25** Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2019-07-01** Read third time. Urgency clause adopted. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 1877.). `passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2019-07-01** In Assembly. Ordered to Engrossing and Enrolling. `committee-passage`
- **2019-07-08** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3:30 p.m.
- **2019-07-12** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2019-07-12** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 90, Statutes of 2019.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/d341e5a6-aace-4735-8f53-288f59235a68`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).