Fed shutdown hits CA food benefits. Newsom’s sending in troops.

The California National Guard may not be rounding up drug users along Market Street any time soon: Despite President Donald Trump’s rhetoric troops cannot make law-enforcement arrests. But it will likely be headed for food banks across the state in the coming days.

After the California Department of Social Services notified counties across the state on Monday that the government shutdown could stall the state’s food stamp program, CalFresh, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Wednesday he will set aside $80 million in emergency funding to support food banks and deploy the California National Guard to assist in food distribution. 

“Trump’s failure isn’t abstract — it’s literally taking food out of people’s mouths,” wrote Newsom in a press release on the ongoing shutdown’s impact on food assistance. “Millions of Americans rely on food benefits to feed their families, and while Republicans in Washington drag their feet, California is stepping up once again to fill in the gaps.” 

The troops would not be involved in immigration enforcement. Separately and unrelatedly, a “surge” of federal immigration agents is coming to the Bay Area on Thursday.

CalFresh, or SNAP, provides over $1.1 billion in food benefits state-wide each month. About 5.5 million Californians rely on the program, including over 100,000 San Franciscans, a number that has grown in recent years due to post-pandemic impacts and an expansion of eligibility. 

CalFresh benefits, which provide financial assistance with food purchases for low-income Californians, may not be available as soon as November. The San Francisco Human Services Agency this week warned users that the benefits could run out by Nov. 1. 

Other benefits, including Medi-Cal and Social Security, are not expected to be impacted at this time. 

Food banks across San Francisco will likely be overwhelmed with those in need of help putting food on their table in the coming weeks. Emergency funding from the state and extra hands are intended to help hold over local food pantries during the month, and as the holiday season approaches. 

The San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, which operates approximately 250 food banks across San Francisco and Marin County, along with the San Francisco YMCA and other local food pantries, will likely receive assistance from the National Guard in November. 

As of publication time, Mayor Daniel Lurie’s office did not respond to requests for comment on whether local support will additionally be given to San Francisco food banks, and what plan is in place in the case that over 100,000 San Franciscans are left without CalFresh. 

This wouldn’t be the first time the National Guard has been deployed to food banks: It passed out food and helped with staffing food banks during the COVID-19 pandemic and Hurricane Katrina. But in the absence of a pandemic or a natural disaster, the use of the National Guard is rare.