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Report regarding a resolution approving Budget Amendment No. 26.035 appropriating $170,000 for emergency food assistance for South San Francisco Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients (Nell Selander, Economic & Community Development Director).
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RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Staff recommends City Council adopt a resolution approving Budget Amendment No. 26.035 appropriating $170,000 for emergency food assistance for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients living in South San Francisco. Taking this action will formalize the authorization Council provided at the Special Meeting of the City Council on October 29, 2025, allocating $170,000 of the funds the City expects to receive when it completes the sale of DNA Way to Genentech in November 2025 to emergency food assistance.
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BACKGROUND
On October 1, 2025, a federal government shutdown began after congress failed to pass appropriations legislation for the 2026 fiscal year. To prevent a gap in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, which provides funding to states to implement a cash-like assistance program that can be used on certain groceries, the U.S. Congress needed to take action by October 31, 2025. Alternatively, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which administers SNAP, could have dipped into emergency funds to make November payments to states.
On October 29, 2025, City Council met in a Special Meeting. During an agendized discussion of how to spend $25 million the City will receive in sale proceeds from the sale of DNA Way to Genentech in November 2025, City Council directed staff to immediately implement a program providing assistance to families that would not be receiving SNAP if the government shutdown persisted. Specifically, Council directed staff to spend up to $170,000 that could be backfilled by the Genentech road sale proceeds once received, to work with the YMCA Community Resource Center (YMCA CRC) to distribute the...
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