Save Market Match: Act Now

Governor’s Budget Proposal Cuts Critical Funding for California Nutrition Incentive Program

Tuesday, May 21, 2024

On May 14th, The Governor released full details of his May Revise budget proposal, which unfortunately did not reinstate funding for the California Nutrition Incentive Program (CNIP), which was proposed to be cut from $35 million to $1.8 million earlier this year. The Governor also projects significant budget shortfalls for the next two years and while we understand the gravity of the situation, the #SaveMarketMatch coalition, including hundreds of organizations, farmers, and thousands of beneficiaries, continue to call on the budget leaders to prioritize funding for this vital safety-net program.

As inflation looms on the heels of national cuts to assistance programs, we must prioritize and safeguard safety-net programs like CNIP that benefit tens of thousands of families facing food insecurity. CNIP is not only a lifeline for food-insecure families, but it also supports small and mid-size farmers, rural communities, and it brings critical federal matching dollars into the state. Since 2017, CNIP has drawn-down more than $30 million in federal dollars. This is in addition to the federal CalFresh (SNAP) dollars spent with local farmers and vendors which are also kept in the state through CNIP.

Providing incentives to low-income households to purchase healthy, locally-grown food has always enjoyed uniquely widespread bipartisan support. A cut to CNIP now is a major blow to Californians using CalFresh, our local farmers, and it threatens to unravel years of progress from successful initiatives like Market Match.

We continue to urgently request that budget leaders, including the state legislature and Governor Newsom, reinstate funding for CNIP in California’s budget.