BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 402|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 402
Author: Skinner (D)
Amended: 8/17/11 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 8-1, 6/22/11
AYES: Lowenthal, Alquist, Blakeslee, Hancock, Liu, Price,
Simitian, Vargas
NOES: Huff
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner, Vacancy
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 4-3, 6/28/11
AYES: Liu, Hancock, Wright, Yee
NOES: Emmerson, Berryhill, Strickland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 51-24, 6/1/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : CalFresh program: School Lunch Program:
information
SOURCE : County Welfare Directors Association of
California
Western Center on Law and Poverty
DIGEST : This bill authorizes school districts and county
offices of education to share information provided on the
School Lunch Program application with the local agency that
determines CalFresh program eligibility, or to an agency
that determines eligibility for nutrition assistance
programs. Requires each county to determine eligibility
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for CalFresh based on the information shared by a school
district or county office of education and to enroll
determined eligible pupils.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/17/11 clarify the process for
processing applications and releasing information for
CalFresh applications.
ANALYSIS :
Existing Law :
1. Requires each school district or county superintendent
of schools, maintaining any kindergarten or any of
grades 1-12 inclusive, to provide for each needy pupil
one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal
during each school day.
2. Requires the governing board of a school district and
the county superintendent of schools to make
applications for free or reduced-price meals available
to pupils.
3. Defines "needy children" as those children who meet
federal eligibility criteria for free and reduced price
meals, except for family day care homes which shall be
reimbursed for 75 percent of the meals.
4. Encourages each school district and county
superintendent of schools to include information in the
meal application that parents may use to request
information concerning the Medi-Cal program and the
Healthy Families Program. Specifies that at the option
of the school district and county superintendent, the
application may contain the following:
A. A notification that if a child qualifies for
free school lunches, then the child may qualify for
free or reduced-cost health coverage.
B. A request for consent to allow information in
the School Lunch Program application to be shared
with the entity that makes eligibility
determination for the Medi-Cal program.
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C. A notification that the information in the
school lunch application is confidential and, with
the exception of sharing the information with the
agency that determines Medi-Cal eligibility, will
not be shared with any governmental agency,
including the federal Department of Homeland
Security and the Social Security Administration.
D. Information regarding the Medi-Cal Program.
This bill:
1.Authorizes a school district or county office of
education, at its option, to enter into a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) with the local agency that
determines CalFresh program eligibility, or its
designee, to share information provided on the School
Lunch Program application with that agency, if the child
is approved for free meals or, if included in the MOU,
reduced-price meals, and if the applicant consents to
the sharing of that information.
2.Specifies that any MOU shall set forth the roles and
responsibilities of the school district or county office
of education and the local agency, and the process to be
used in sharing the information.
3.Specifies that the local agency that determines CalFresh
program eligibility shall use information provided on a
School Lunch Program application only for purposes
directly related to the enrollment of families in the
CalFresh program.
4.Specifies that the School Lunch Program application is
confidential, and with the exception of forwarding the
information on the application for use in CalFresh
program enrollment, prohibits the information from being
shared with any other governmental agency, including the
federal Immigration and Naturalization Service and the
Social Security Administration, or for any purpose other
than enrollment in the CalFresh program.
5.Requires each county to determine CalFresh program
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eligibility for children from information provided on a
School Lunch Program application.
6.Requires the county to enroll an eligible child in the
CalFresh program upon receipt of a signed CalFresh
program application.
7.Requires the county to contact the parent or guardian of
a child to seek additional information regarding
eligibility, if the county is unable to determine
eligibility in the CalFresh program from the School
Lunch Program application.
8.Requires the county to notify the parent or guardian of
a child whom the county determines does not meet the
eligibility requirements for participation.
9.Requires the county to deny or discontinue CalFresh
program benefits if the parent or guardian does not
provide all required this information.
10.Directs the county to treat, as an application for the
CalFresh program, a School Lunch Program application
regarding a pupil who is not already enrolled in the
CalFresh program.
Comments
CalFresh . CalFresh is a food and nutrition program for
low-income individuals funded through the U.S. Department
of Agriculture. Similar to the School Breakfast Program
and the School Lunch Program, CalFresh is an entitlement
program (it was called the food stamp program). CalFresh
is available to individuals with maximum gross income of
130 percent of the federal poverty level ($28,665 for a
family of four) and a net income of 100 percent of federal
poverty guidelines and who meet one of the following:
1. The applicant has lived in the country for five years.
2. The applicant is receiving disability-related benefits,
regardless of how long she/he has lived in the country.
3. The applicant is a child under 18 years of age
regardless of how long she/he has lived in the country.
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Each individual or household's benefit level . According to
the California Department of Social Services, the average
CalFresh benefit amount per household each month is $200.
The benefit is deposited into an account that can be
accessed through use of a debit card, used to purchase food
(or seeds and plants to grow food) from grocery stores,
convenience stores, and participating farmer's' markets.
Children can be are eligible for benefits even if their
parents are ineligible. Over two million Californians
receive CalFresh benefits. According to the California
Food Policy Advocates, there are an estimated three million
eligible individuals who are not receiving CalFresh
benefits.
A Similar approach in Maryland . Montgomery County,
Maryland reports that a similar data-sharing program
resulted in more than 20,000 children, who were in the
school lunch program - enrolling in that state's
supplementary nutrition assistance program.
Confidentiality and information sharing . This bill
requires, under the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy
Act that prohibits release of pupil information without the
consent of pupils, or their parents or legal guardians if
the pupils are under age 18, parental consent prior to the
sharing of any information about pupils enrolled in the
free or reduced price meal program.
This bill directs the local agency that determines CalFresh
program eligibility to use information provided on a School
Lunch Program application solely for the purpose of
enrollment of children or families in the CalFresh program.
Related Legislation
AB 839 (Brownley), 2011-12 Session, requires each school
district or county superintendent of schools maintaining
kindergarten or any of grades 1 through 12 to submit
specified reports and governing board resolutions to the
California Department of Education regarding access and
participation in the federal SBP. (In Senate
Appropriations Committee)
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FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/30/11)
County Welfare Directors Association of California
(co-source)
Western Center on Law and Poverty (co-source)
Alameda County Board of Supervisors
Alameda County Community Food Bank
Butte County Department of Employment and Social Services
California Association of Food Banks
California Food Policy Advocates
California Hunger Action Coalition
California School Employees Association
California State Association of Counties
California State PTA
City and County of San Francisco
Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations
County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors
Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano
Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services
Insight Center for Community Economic Development
Jericho
Laborers' Local 777
Laborers' Local 792
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
Oakland Unified School District, Nutrition Services
Riverside County Department of Public Social Services
Santa Barbara County Department of Social Services
West Contra Costa Unified School District
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author's office states that
federal programs such as CalFresh provide a safety net to
help ensure that low-income children get adequate
nutrition. Although 3.4 million children are now eligible
for school meal programs, a large number of these children
and their families are not participating in CalFresh.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Block,
Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan,
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Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, Cedillo,
Chesbro, Davis, Dickinson, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes,
Furutani, Galgiani, Gatto, Gordon, Hall, Hayashi, Roger
Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Lara, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, Perea,
Portantino, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torres,
Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NOES: Achadjian, Conway, Cook, Donnelly, Fletcher, Beth
Gaines, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Harkey, Jones, Knight,
Logue, Mansoor, Miller, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen,
Norby, Olsen, Silva, Smyth, Valadao, Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bill Berryhill, Garrick, Gorell,
Jeffries, V. Manuel Pérez
CPM:do 8/18/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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