George Manalo-LeClair has been selected as CFPA’s new executive director. After a special meeting of the CFPA Board of Directors on Wednesday, January 11, Board President Sam Karp announced, “On behalf of the Board of Directors I am pleased to name George Manalo-LeClair as CFPA's new executive director. We are excited about all the great things that are in store for CFPA!”

In response to the announcement, George reflected, “I am very honored to have been selected to lead the organization I so love. Thanks to Ken Hecht’s leadership, CFPA has experienced incredible success over the past 20 years. I look forward to further advancing the organization’s efforts to create a healthier, hunger-free California.”

Ken Hecht, outgoing executive director shared the following statement. “It is wonderful to turn CFPA’s leadership over to someone who knows CFPA and its policy priorities so well, who has been responsible for so much that CFPA has accomplished, and who has the confidence and respect of our advocacy colleagues as well as decision-makers at every level. I know I speak on behalf of all the staff in praising the Board’s selection process and its outcome.”

Read more here. link

Supporting documents, including Fact Sheets and Frequently Asked Questions, are now available on our 2012 Legislative Agenda page. Visit this page often for updates throughout the year, as well as detailed information for each of our proposals. As bills are introduced and partner organization agendas become available, we’ll also include information on legislation we're supporting, opposing, or monitoring.

Visit CFPA’s 2012 Legislative Agenda Page link

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Would you like to receive occasional email updates on one, some, or all of the 2012 CFPA-sponsored bills? Now you can! Simply subscribe to our legislative update list and indicate which proposals you are interested in. We’ll send email updates out with timely information, such as legislative status, calls to action, committee updates and more!

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Governor Brown introduced his 2012-13 budget proposal on Thursday, January 5.The proposed budget includes significant cuts to Medi-Cal, CalWORKs, and childcare benefits for current and past CalWORKs families. The proposed cuts compound with those signed into law by Governor Brown last July and if enacted would further weaken California’s safety-net.

While the cuts do not directly impact CalFresh funding, they do negatively impact the very families that depend on Medi-Cal, CalWORKs and childcare benefits, in conjunction with CalFresh, to make ends meet. As less funding is made available for safety-net programs and households lose essential cash-aid and other benefits, resources available for food purchases are diminished. For every three dollars lost in income only one dollar is gained in CalFresh benefits – this is simply not enough to help support the many California families that continue to struggle to put food on the table. Therefore, CFPA supports budget solutions that focus on increasing revenue instead of continuing to reduce funding for California’s critical safety-net programs.

For a more detailed overview of the proposed cuts, take a look at Western Center on Law and Poverty’s recent State Budget Bulletin. link

Right before the holidays, radio and newspaper outlets criticized LAUSD’s new and healthier school menu that was unveiled at the beginning of the 2011-12 school year. Some students’ reactions to the new menu haven’t been favorable, resulting in food waste. However, two facts were not effectively captured in the news 1) LAUSD changed its menus to teach students new habits, which always take time, and 2) after a slow start, in November 2011 participation in lunch bounced back to the previous years’ level. CFPA supports LAUSD’s efforts to improve the food on the school lunch tray and acknowledges that changing students' eating habits isn’t something that is going to happen overnight.

Take a look at our public statement of support for LAUSD menu changes. link

Join us on January 26^th at 10 AM to learn and see examples of how creative school nutrition directors are marketing their school meals program to boost demand and to encourage students’ selection of healthier fare. This is a free webinar put on by The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s RENEW Initiative.

Get more information and register. link

With less than one month until the 2012 CalFresh Forum, CFPA staff is hard at work to make this one of the best CalFresh Forums yet! Workshop topics will include strategies to increase senior participation, the link between CalFresh and healthcare, CalFresh data and legislation, CalFresh and immigrant populations, and much more! While we continue planning for a great Forum we’d like to remind you that registration is still open and voting for the 2012 Freshy Awards closes on January 18!

Register Today! link

Submit Your Vote for the 2012 Freshy Awards! link

Also, don’t forget that if you make a donation in support of the 2012 CalFresh Forum you’ll receive a CalFresh t-shirt!

Learn more about making a donation. link

For more information about the event visit the 2012 CalFresh Forum page. link