The CalFresh Fruit and Vegetable EBT program is a great success – but was forced to end because its funding ran out for the second time in a year.

The program provides 67,000 CalFresh participants with up to $60 a month in rebates when they buy fresh fruits and vegetables with their CalFresh benefits. The program was providing a total of $3.3 million in food assistance across the state each month.

We need the Legislature and Governor to include at least $63 million in the state budget to keep the program going for 12 months and to help more California families. That's only 0.027% of the overall state budget.

This program is cost-effective, efficient, and critical. At a time of tight budgets – for both the state and millions of Californians – it's an investment that is absolutely worth continuing.