BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE
Senator Anthony Cannella, Chairman
BILL NO: AB 581 HEARING: 06/21/11
AUTHOR: John A. Pérez FISCAL: Yes
VERSION: 05/27/11 CONSULTANT: John Chandler
Public health: food access.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
In February 2010, the federal government under the Obama
Administration announced the details of an over $400 million
Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI), which will bring
grocery stores and other healthy food retailers to underserved
urban and rural communities across America, also known as "food
deserts." The HFFI is a partnership between the Departments of
Treasury, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services to promote
a range of interventions that expand access to nutritious foods,
including developing and equipping grocery stores and other
small businesses and retailers selling healthy food in
communities that currently lack these options.
Other states, such as the Pennsylvania and New York have
programs similar to the federal HFFI program:
The Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative is
designed to meet the financing needs of supermarket
operators that want to operate in low- and moderate-income
communities where infrastructure costs and credit needs are
often higher and unmet by conventional financial
institutions. The initiative helps new supermarkets get off
the ground and existing ones to refurbish and replace old
capital to improve efficiency and lower costs.
New York now has two healthy food finance initiatives.
The New York Healthy Food & Healthy Communities Fund,
operated by the Low Income Investment Fund, is a
$30 million innovative financing program that supports
supermarkets in underserved communities statewide. The
second, which was just announced on June 6, 2011, is a
$10 million fund run by the New York City Economic
Development Council to provide loans to existing and new
food manufacturers to grow their businesses in New York.
AB 2750 (Pérez) of 2010, similar to this bill, would have
created the California Healthy Food Financing Initiative.
Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed this bill with the following
message: "While my Administration shares the same goals as the
AB 581 - Page 2
author when it comes to promoting healthy and affordable food
access for low-income communities in California, the Healthy
Food Financing Initiative has not yet been acted on by Congress.
Unless and until those important federal funding details are
known, this bill is both premature and unnecessary."
PROPOSED LAW
AB 581 creates the California Healthy Food Financing Initiative.
Specifically, the bill would do the following:
Require by July 1, 2012, that the California Department
of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) in consultation with the
State Department of Public Health (DPH) and State
Department of Social Services (DSS), prepare
recommendations on actions to be taken to promote food
access and make those recommendations available to the
legislature.
Authorize CDFA to establish an advisory group consisting
of representatives from the legislature, agriculture
industry, grocery industry, food policy advocates,
financial institutions, food system researchers, and
nonprofit organizations.
Specify that CDFA, in consultation with DPH, DSS, and
the Treasurer, may coordinate efforts to maximize funding
opportunities provided by the federal 2010 Healthy Food
Financing Initiative.
Require that CDFA, in consultation with DPH, DSS, and
the Treasurer, implement the California Healthy Food
Financing Initiative that is modeled after the National
Healthy Food Financing Initiative.
Require that the California Healthy Food Financing
Initiative be implemented with diverse funding from sources
including, but not limited to, federal, state,
philanthropic, and private resources.
Establish the California Healthy Food Financing
Initiative Fund in the State Treasury comprised of federal,
state, philanthropic, and private funds for the expansion
AB 581 - Page 3
of access to healthy foods in underserved communities; and
to the extent possible, leverage the funds with other
funding such as new markets, tax credits, federal and
foundation grant programs, enterprise zone incentives, the
federal Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, and the federal
Community Reinvestment Act.
Sunset on January 1, 2015.
COMMENTS
1.According to the author, AB 581 will increase access to
healthy and nutritious foods to underserved urban and rural
communities in California. Known as "food deserts," regions
of California without access to healthy food generally have a
higher incidence of certain types of diseases such as
diabetes, cancer, obesity, heart disease, and premature death.
AB 581 brings together CDFA and other state agencies to
maximize the impact of the California HFFI and leverage
funding from federal and other sources to improve the health
of low-income Californians by increasing access to
nutritious food.
2.AB 581 allows CDFA to establish an advisory group consisting
of representatives from specified interest groups and
government representatives. However, the size and makeup of
the advisory group is not specified in the bill. When CDFA
secretaries change with new administrations, consistency in
the advisory group may be lost. The committee may wish to
consider if the bill should give greater direction to CDFA on
the makeup of the advisory group to ensure consistency.
3.The Senate Rules Committee has double referred this bill to
the Senate Health Committee as the second committee of
referral. Therefore, if this measure is approved by this
committee, the motion should include an action to re-refer the
bill to the Senate Committee on Health.
PRIOR ACTIONS
Assembly Floor 76-0
Assembly Appropriations17-0
Assembly Health 18-0
Assembly Agriculture 9-0
SUPPORT
AB 581 - Page 4
California Catholic Conference, Inc.
California Center for Rural Policy
California District of the American Academy of Pediatrics
California Farm Bureau Federation
California Food Policy Advocates
California Medical Association
California Nurses Association
California Pan-Ethnic Health Network
California Physical Therapy Association
California Primary Care Association
California Retailers Association
California State Association of Counties
California State Grange
California State PTA
California Women for Agriculture
Children NOW
Children's Defense Fund - California
Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations
County Health Executive Association of California
County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors
First 5 LA
Junior League of Los Angeles
Latino Coalition for a Healthy California
PolicyLink
Western Growers
OPPOSITION
None received