BILL ANALYSIS
SB 19
Page 1
Date of Hearing: July, 03, 2001
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
Helen Thomson, Chair
SB 19 (Escutia) - As Amended: June 4, 2001
SENATE VOTE : 22-15
POLICY QUESTIONS :
1)Should the reimbursement a school receives for free and
reduced-price meals be increased to twenty-six cents?
2)Should various prohibitions and limitations on the sale of
foods and beverages at schools including prohibiting entree
items and side dishes from being larger than the portions of
those foods served as part of the federal school meal program,
be established?
3)Should a school district be permitted to convene a Child
Nutrition and Physical Activity Advisory Committee to develop
and recommend to the governing board of the school district
for its adoption, school district policies on nutrition and
physical activity?
4)Should the sum of $11 million be appropriated from the General
Fund to the Department of Education to implement specified
provisions of this bill?
5)Should the Superintendent of Public Instruction annually be
required to randomly select not less than 10% of the school
districts of the state to report compliance with this bill?
SUBJECT : Pupil health.
SUMMARY : Requires the reimbursement a school receives for free
and reduced-price meals to be increased to twenty-six cents.
Provides various prohibitions and limitations on the sale of
foods and beverages at schools, including prohibiting entree
items and side dishes from being larger than the portions of
those foods served as part of the federal school meal program.
Permits a school district to convene a Child Nutrition and
Physical Activity Advisory Committee and requires the Committee
to develop and recommend to the governing board of the school
district for its adoption, school district policies on nutrition
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and physical activity. Appropriates $11 million from the
General Fund (GF) to the Department of Education (DOE) and
specifies how these sums are to be allocated for the 2001-02 and
2003-04 fiscal years. Requires, annually, the Superintendent of
Public Instruction (Superintendent) to randomly select not less
than 10 percent of the school districts of the state to report
compliance with this bill. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the reimbursement a school receives for free and
reduced-price meals to be increased to twenty-six cents.
2)Requires a school to receive a reimbursement of thirteen cents
for meals sold at full price.
3)Requires a school to follow the United States Department of
Agriculture's Enhanced Food Based Meal Pattern, the United
States Department of Agriculture's Nutrient Standard Meal
Planning, or California's SHAPE Menu Patterns in order to
qualify for the increased reimbursement for free and
reduced-price meals and for the reimbursement for meals sold
at full price.
4)Requires the reimbursement rates set forth in #1 and #2 above
to be adjusted annually for increases in cost of living in the
same manner set forth in current law relating to the inflation
adjustment established by the Superintendent of Public
Instruction.
5)Requires #1 through #4 to become operative on January 1, 2004.
6)Requires the sale of all foods on school grounds to be
approved by the school food service program director or the
person or entity responsible for serving meals at the
school-site.
7)Requires the only food that may be sold at elementary schools
during breakfast and lunch periods to be sold as a full meal
which is defined as any combination of food items that meet a
USDA-approved meal pattern. Exempts the sale of fruits,
vegetables, or beverages from this requirement.
8)Requires individual food items sold during morning or
afternoon breaks at elementary schools to meet the standards
for foods sold at secondary schools, as set forth in #10
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below.
9)Limits the types of beverages that may be sold at an
elementary school to water, milk, and 100% fruit juices
regardless of the time of day.
10)Limits the types of beverages that may be sold at secondary
schools from one-half hour before the start of the schoolday
until one-half hour after the end of the schoolday to:
a) Fruit-based drinks that do not contain additional
sweeteners;
b) Water;
c) Milk, including, but not limited to, chocolate milk, soy
milk, rice milk, and other similar nondairy milk; and,
d) Sports drinks, defined as any electrolyte replacement
beverage that contains no more than 25 grams of sweetener.
11)Prohibits any beverage permitted to be sold pursuant to #10
above from being carbonated.
12)Requires all snacks, sweets, or side dishes sold on the
school-site of a secondary school outside of the federal
school meal program from one-half hour before the start of the
schoolday until one-half hour after the end of the schoolday
to meet all of the following standards:
a) Have 35 percent or less of its total calories from fat
and exempts the sale of nuts and seeds from this
requirement;
b) Have 10 percent or less of its total calories from
saturated fat;
c) Have 35 percent or less of its total weight composed of
sugar and exempts the sale of fruits and vegetables from
this requirement; and
d) Be limited to 12 ounces for beverages and exempts water
and milk from this requirement.
13)Prohibits entree items and side dishes, including, but not
limited to, french fries and onion rings, from being larger
than the portions of those foods served as part of the federal
school meal program.
14)Requires fruits and vegetables to be offered for sale at any
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location on the schoolsite of a secondary school where
competitive foods are sold.
15)Prohibits #6 through #14 above from being waived pursuant to
current law which permits the governing board of a school
district or a county board of education, on a districtwide or
countywide basis or on behalf of one or more of its schools or
programs to waive any section of the Education Code or any
regulation adopted by the Board of Education (BOE) that
implements a section of the Education Code, after a public
hearing on the matter.
16)Requires #6 through #14 above to become operative on January
1, 2004.
17)Requires, by January 1, 2004, every school to post a summary
of nutrition and physical activity laws and regulations, and
to post the school district's nutrition and physical activity
policies, in public view within all school cafeterias or other
central eating areas. Requires the DOE to develop the summary
of state law and regulations.
18)Permits a school district to convene a Child Nutrition and
Physical Activity Advisory Committee (Committee). Requires
the Committee to develop and recommend to the governing board
of the school district for its adoption, school district
policies on nutrition and physical activity.
19)Requires the Committee to include, but not be limited to,
food service directors, food service staff, staff, parents,
pupils, physical and health education teachers, dietitians,
health care professionals, and interested community members.
20)Requires the Committee to hold at least one public hearing,
in developing the policies on nutrition and physical activity.
Requires the policies on nutrition and physical activity to
address issues and goals, including, but not limited to, all
of the following:
a) Ensuring that no pupil is hungry;
b) Improving nutritional standards;
c) Increasing the availability of fresh fruits and
vegetables;
d) Ensuring, to the extent possible, that the food served
is fresh;
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e) Encouraging eligible pupils to participate in the school
lunch program;
f) Integrating nutrition and physical activity into the
overall curriculum;
g) Ensuring regular professional development for food
services staff;
h) Ensuring pupils a minimum of 30 minutes to eat lunch and
20 minutes to eat breakfast , when provided;
i) Ensuring pupils engage in healthful levels of vigorous
physical activity;
j) Ensuring pupils receive nutrition education;
aa) Improving the quality of physical education curricula
and increasing training of physical education teachers;
bb) Enforcing existing physical education requirements;
cc) Altering the economic structures in place to encourage
healthy eating by pupils and reduce dependency on
generating profits for the school from the sale of
unhealthy foods; and
dd) Developing a financing plan to implement the policies.
21)Permits a school district to apply to DOE for a grant to
offset the costs of developing and adopting policies pursuant
to #18, #19 and #20 above. Requires these grants to be
available to applicant school districts by January 1, 2002.
22)Requires a school district that develops and adopts policies
pursuant to #18, #19, and #20 above by January 1, 2003, to
receive a grant from DOE on the basis of an equal amount per
unit of average daily attendance of the participating school
districts, with no participating school district receiving
less than four thousand dollars ($4,000) per grant, and no
participating school district receiving more than twenty-five
thousand dollars ($25,000) per grant, to offset the costs of
developing the policies.
23)Appropriates the sum of $11 million from the GF to DOE, for
allocation as follows:
a) $1 million in each of the fiscal years 2001-02 and
2002-03, for the purpose of providing technical support to
school districts to assist in implementing #18 through #22
above; and
b) $10 million for providing grants to applicant school
districts, on the basis of average daily attendance of the
participating school districts, for the purposes of
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developing policies as set forth in #21 above.
1)Requires of the $10 million appropriated by #23 b) above, the
amount of $5 million to be allocated in the 2001-02 fiscal
year, and $5 million to be allocated in the 2002-03 fiscal
year.
2)Requires, annually, the Superintendent to randomly select not
less than 10% of the school districts of the state to report
compliance with this bill as set forth in #26 below. Requires
the group selected to be sufficient to provide a statistically
random and accurate sampling of the state as a whole.
3)Requires each school district selected pursuant to #25 above
to report to the Superintendent in the coordinated compliance
review regarding the extent to which it has complied with this
bill.
4)Requires the Superintendent to issue a notice of noncompliance
for any school district that the Superintendent finds is not
in compliance with the mandatory provisions of this bill.
5)Requires the noncomplying school district to adopt, and
provide to the Superintendent, a corrective plan. Requires
the corrective plan to set forth the actions to be taken by
the school district in order to ensure that the school
district will be in full compliance within one year from the
issuance of the noncompliance notification.
6)Requires DOE, with advice from the Child Nutrition Advisory
Council, to design and implement a financial incentive grant
program to help and encourage schools to implement the school
district policies and meet the goals described in #20 above.
7)Requires the Department of Health Services (DHS) to monitor
the implementation of #6 through #16 and to annually report to
the Legislature regarding all of the following:
a) The effectiveness of the policies and standards
developed by school districts;
b) The effect of this bill upon school districts and
pupils, including, but not limited to, an assessment of
pupil responses and related findings; and
c) Recommendations for improvements or additions.
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8)Requires DHS to report to the Legislature by June 1, 2004,
regarding the initial implementation of #6 through #16 above.
9)Makes various legislative findings and declarations, including
childhood obesity has reached epidemic levels in California
and throughout the nation.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides around $0.12 for the state's share of the
reimbursable meal program.
2)Requires the governing board of a school district to give
diligent care to the health and physical development of
pupils.
3)Requires the Superintendent to reimburse school districts for
certain costs associated with free and reduced-price meals.
4)Prohibits the sale of competitive foods in the school food
service area, as defined in federal law.
5)Requires that 50% of the items, other than foods reimbursed
under federal law, offered for sale each schoolday at any
school-site by any entity or organization during regular
school hours be selected from a prescribed list of nutritious
foods.
6)Requires all public school districts and county
superintendents of schools to make available, free or at a
reduced price, one nutritionally adequate meal to each needy
student every school day.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations'
committee analysis, this bill would cost $5.5 million, for
2001-02 and $5.5 million for 2003-04 fiscal years from GF. $1
million of the appropriation would be available in the 2001-02
and 2002-03 fiscal years for the purpose of providing technical
support to school districts. The remaining $10 million would be
for providing grants to school districts on the basis of average
daily attendance in the 2001-02 and 2002-03 fiscal years.
COMMENTS :
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1)PURPOSE OF THIS BILL . According to the author, the percentage
of overweight children and youth in the U.S. has doubled in
the past 30 years. 91% of children ages 6 to 11 are not
eating the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables. Many
experts believe this is due, at least in part, to an increased
consumption of convenience foods. The author argues that
overweight and obese children are at a higher risk than other
children for long-term health problems including diabetes,
hypertension, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure,
gallbladder disease, asthma and certain cancers. The link
between good nutrition and student achievement is clear:
children who eat poorly tend to have high rates of sickness
and absence from school, low energy, low test scores and
difficulty concentrating. The author argues that this bill
encourages students to adopt healthy eating habits and
supports them in this endeavor at school by guaranteeing
nutritious options for meals and snacks.
2)SUPPORT . According to the sponsors of this bill, the
California Center for Public Health Advocacy (CCPHA),
throughout California as many as 1/3 of students are
overweight. Poor nutrition and physical inactivity are
responsible for 28% of preventable deaths in the U.S.. CCPHA
argues that schools are part of the problem because there are
no standards for foods sold a la carte, or in vending
machines. According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), a
significant contribution to youth obesity comes from the sale
of unregulated foods and sodas at schools. This bill is
directed at improving the choice of foods offered at schools
as well as encouraging fruit and vegetable consumption. ACS
adds that this bill will ensure that the eating habits
promoted at our schools is consistent with the nutrition
education students receive in the classroom. According to the
American Heart Association (AHA), poor diet and physical
inactivity contribute to an estimated 35,000 deaths and $15
billion in excess of health care costs every year in
California. AHA argues that this bill takes long overdue and
important steps to ensure that the eating habits promoted
through the sale of food and beverages at our schools are
aligned with nutrition education students receive in the
classroom.
According to the California Adolescent Nutrition and Fitness
Program (CANFIT), schools greatly influence what youth eat,
how active they are, and whether they become obese. Schools
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are increasingly offering unhealthy meals and foods in vending
machines such as chips, candy, and soda. CANFIT states that
this trend not only threatens student health, but also
performance. The Sharp HealthCare Center for Health Promotion
(SHARP) states that there is currently a huge dissonance in
what is being taught in schools about nutrition and what is
being sold to students through competitive food sales, school
stores and fundraising efforts. SHARP argues that the role of
schools should be to create a "safe haven" where youth are not
bombarded daily with messages and opportunities to eat
unhealthy foods that are high in fat and sugar. The
California Parent Teachers Association (PTA) states that this
bill includes all of what its members adopted as sound
nutritional guidelines 10 years ago. PTA adds that this bill
provides individual school districts local control and needed
input in adopting district policies through the local Child
Nutrition and Physical Advisory Committees.
3)OPPOSITION . The California School Food Service Association
(CSFSA), is concerned about the impact this bill will have on
the nutrition programs their school food service authorities
are mandated to provide to California students. CSFSA states
that it opposes this bill because: 1) The funding in the bill
is not linked to the implementation of the standards; 2) A la
carte sales would be severely restricted and the financial
stability of school food service programs will be at stake;
and 3) Many high school campuses are unrestricted during meal
periods and students will leave campus to purchase what they
want to eat. CSFSA states that they support the concept of
improved nutrition access for students, however, this bill
falls short in addressing the true issue and will do more harm
than good. The Association of California School
Administrators (ACSA) notes that state funding for school
meals has been reduced by 25% over the last 15 years. As a
result, sales of competitive foods have been used to make up
for funding reductions to service programs. ACSA argues that
this bill provides no mechanism by which the districts can
offset any accompanying financial loss and this bill should
include provisions to offset possible revenue reductions
resulting from the bill. ACSA adds that implementing the new
portion sizes will be problematic since this may require
repackaging and nothing in this bill stops students from
purchasing two or three additional items to get around this
limitation. The Jelly Belly Candy Company argues that candy
is only a small percentage of calories consumed by children
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and all food can be eaten in moderation. Nutrition education
and the need for physical activity should instead by fully
addressed. The Dairy Institute argues that contrary to the
implications of this bill, child health and nutrition is a
concern for parents, school nutritionists and food
manufacturers. As partners with families, local school food
service programs make positive efforts to both educate and
feed California's school children.
The California Association of Directors of Activities (CADA),
states that this bill makes no financial compensation to the
hundreds of student clubs, organizations, publications,
classes, activity programs, athletics, or performance groups
that now rely on monies generated by the sale of food and
beverages whether during the school day, or immediately after
school in student run snack bars. CADA adds that this bill
does not address the real problem of obesity or student
activity. The Grocery Manufacturers of America argues that
this bill will only serve to limit choice and restrict the
authority of local schools and school districts to exercise
discretion over whether and under what conditions various food
products should be available in schools. The Riverside County
Schools Advocacy Association argues that an unintended
consequence of this bill would be a significant increase in
secondary students leaving campus for lunch, undermining the
nutritional goals of this bill and further reducing funding
for this state mandated program.
4)SUPPORT IF AMENDED . The California School Boards Association,
and the President of the Woodland School Board would support
this bill if it was amended to instead create a pilot program
in order to test the feasibility of implementing the suggested
standards and their economic feasibility. The California
Nutrition Council (CNC) would prefer to see less prescriptive
language that could be used to teach children to manage their
environment so that they can live productive healthy lives
after their school careers. CNC states that it would prefer
to see language that would allow schools some flexibility in
meeting the demands of their students while providing a
nutrition environment that does not flood food choices with
foods of minimal nutritional value.
5)USDA REGULATIONS . Under the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) regulations, the nutrient content of meals
sold under the reimbursable meal program is based on (a) the
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recommended daily allowance (RDA); (b) children's energy
expenditure; and (c) dietary guidelines for Americans. Each
meal is based on a specific standard put out by the USDA.
Such standards provide that each meal limit total fat content,
meet 1/3 of RDA, and provide a variety of foods moderate in
sugar and salt and high in fruits, vegetables, and whole
grains.
6)COMPETITIVE FOOD SALES . Current law prohibits the sale of
Foods of Minimal Nutritional Value or "competitive foods" in
the "school food service area" as defined by federal law. The
School Food Service Program (the federal, not-for-profit
program) is authorized to sell nutritious school meals to
pupils (within the specified federal guidelines). Current law
authorizes school districts to contract with private vendors
for the sale of competitive foods, so long as they meet a
one-to-one requirement standard for these "competitive foods".
7)FREE AND REDUCED MEAL PROGRAMS . Currently, 74% of California
school children receive free or reduced-price school meals.
This is a reimbursable meal program where 96% percent of the
reimbursement comes from federal funds. The state's share of
this reimbursement equals around $0.12 and has remained
constant since 1981.
8)CRB STUDY . A study by the California Research Bureau (CRB),
entitled "Overweight Kids: Why Should We Care?" stated that
childhood obesity in the United States has doubled in the last
10 years. There is much finger-pointing at the specific
reasons as to why this has occurred. The CRB study found that
the most apparent reasons for the increase in childhood
obesity are that children are eating more calories and
exercising less. The CRB study added that according to a
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention national survey one
third of high school students did not participate regularly in
vigorous physical activity, and more than half were not
enrolled in physical education classes. According to the CRB
study, students typically opt to take physical education
during their first two years of high school, however, there
may be no room if a student wanted to take additional physical
activity classes.
The CRB study listed the following potential policy options
regarding addressing the problem of obesity:
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a) Providing accessible and affordable physical activity
space and equipment;
b) Providing physical activity instruction;
c) Sharing programs that work by increasing networking
between various programs;
d) Providing affordable fruits and vegetables and
instructing how to cook them; and
e) Developing a cost-effective preventive health campaign
to better education Californians about the risks of eating
fatty foods and not exercising.
9)RELATED LEGISLATION . SB 292 (Ortiz) requires DHS to expand the
activities provided under the Physical Activity and Health
Initiative (PAHI) and requires PAHI to work in conjunction
with the California Project Leaders Encouraging Activity and
Nutrition to promote health education, health activities, and
health awareness to the public regarding the need to increase
physical activity to prevent major chronic disease. SB 665
(Peace) prohibits any food offered for sale at any school-site
during the regular schoolday from being junk food, as defined,
and requires all milk offered to be skim or nonfat, or 1% fat.
AB 287 (Wesson) appropriate up to $1 million from the General
Fund to DOE for the purpose of contracting with a recognized
testing company to perform various services related to making
available a physical fitness test to school districts. AB 367
(Migden) requires DOE to issue a notice of noncompliance to
each school district that fails to comply with specified
requirements, including requirements regarding the number of
hours of physical instruction offered to pupils in grades 1 to
12, inclusive.
10)PRIOR LEGISLATION . SB 1320 (Escutia) of 2000 contained
similar provisions to this bill including the establishment of
a Child Nutrition and Physical Activity Advisory Committee and
prohibitions relating to the sale of foods and beverages at
schools. SB 1320 was amended to focus on students with
diabetes and included a provision requiring every school to
permit any pupil with diabetes to test his or her blood
glucose levels either in classrooms or very close to
classrooms. SB 1320 was vetoed by the Governor. The
Governor's veto message stated that currently, the governing
boards of local educational agencies have a clear statutory
responsibility to give diligent care to the health and
physical development of pupils and have the authority to
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determine their staffing needs consistent with fulfilling this
obligation. School health staffing needs are determined at the
local level based on local priorities and should remain so.
11)DOUBLE REFERRAL . Should this bill pass out of this
committee, it will be referred to the Assembly Committee on
Education.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Center for Public Health Advocacy (sponsor)
African Americans Building a Legacy of Health Project
American Cancer Society
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees,
AFL-CIO
American Heart Association
California Adolescent Nutrition and Fitness Program
California Association for Health, Physical Education,
Recreation and Dance
California Citizens For Health Freedom
California Conference of Local Health Department Nutritionists
California Conference of Local Health Officers
California Federation of Teachers
California Food Policy Advocates
California Public Health Association-North
California State Parent Teachers Association
California Teachers Association
City of Norwalk
Community Health Councils, Inc.
Imperial County Public Health Department
Junior Leagues of California State Public Affairs Committee
Kaiser Permanente
Prevention Institute
Project Harmony
Project LEAN in the Gold Coast Region
Samuels and Associates
Santa Barbara County
Sharp HealthCare Center for Health Promotion
Southern California Public Health Association
Strategic Alliance to Prevent Childhood Obesity
University of Southern California Mobile Dental Clinic
Several individuals
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Opposition
A&R Wholesale Distributors, Inc.
Association of California School Administrators
California Association of Directors of Activities
California Automatic Vendors Council
California Distributors Association
California Nevada Soft Drink Association
Californians for Sensible School Nutrition Policy
California School Food Service Association
Chocolate Manufacturers Association
Dairy Institute
Glendale Unified School District
Grocery Manufacturers of America
Hershey Foods Corporations
Jelly Belly Candy Company
Long Beach Unified School District
National Automatic Merchandising Association
National Confectioners Association
Quaker Oats Company
Redondo Beach Unified School District
Riverside County Schools Advocacy Association
Santa Clarita Valley School Food Services Agency
Snack Foods Association
Several Food Service Directors from:
Capistrano Unified School District
Central Unified School District
Conejo Valley Unified School District
Kingsburg Elementary Charter School District
Los Banos Unified School District
Manhattan Beach Unified School District
Merced City School District
Modesto City Schools
Visalia Unified School District
Two individuals
Analysis Prepared by : David Gonzalez / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097