Vehicles do not count as a “resource” in the CalFresh program

For many years, California operated under the federal limits for determing the “resource” value of non-excluded automobiles and other types of vehicles, currently set forth in 7 C.F.R. § 273.8(f). This rule denied many needy families food benefits simply because they owned reliable transportation.

In 2003, California enacted AB 231 (2003), which included statutory changes removing this vehicle-resource barrier to receiving food benefits. [See MPP § 63-501.3(c); Welf. & Inst. Code § 18901.9.]