Melissa Hurtado

Melissa Hurtado is a California State Senator representing California’s Central Valley. She is the youngest woman ever elected to the state senate. Her district is home to some of the richest and most fertile farmland in the world, one of the top oil-producing counties in the United States and resilient working-class families who power the Valley economy.

In 2020, Hurtado was appointed to the national Biden Latino Leadership Committee, one of only two California Latinas on the committee.

As a lawmaker, Hurtado works to ensure rural voices are heard at all levels of government. She focuses on issues that often go unheard in the state capitol — access to clean air and water, food insecurity, inequities in environmental policies, agriculture, and access to health care in rural communities.

Using data from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research's California Health Interview Survey, and working in collaboration with Nourish California and the California Immigrant Policy Center, Hurtado co-sponsored the Food4All bill, which would modernize the California Food Assistance Program and make the program accessible to all Californians, regardless of their immigration status. The bill passed the Senate Human Services Committee on a 4-0 vote.

“Hunger knows no border, no race, and no nationality,” said Hurtado. “It is unacceptable that 2 in 5 undocumented immigrants and nearly two-thirds of undocumented children live in a food insecure household. I am proud that last year we were able to combat this insecurity by expanding access to food assistance to older Californians, regardless of their immigration status. But the fight isn’t over — we must continue until all Californians have equal access to food assistance.”

In 2022, Governor Newsom announced that funding was included in the 2022–2023 state budget to end the exclusion of income-eligible immigrants ages 55 and older from accessing food benefits due to their immigration status. A delayed 2027 implementation date was announced, and after months of advocacy, the Governor’s Office announced that implementation would be moved up to October 2025.