BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE HEALTH
COMMITTEE ANALYSIS
Senator Ed Hernandez, O.D., Chair
BILL NO: AB 581
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AUTHOR: John A. Pérez
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AMENDED: May 27, 2011
HEARING DATE: July 6, 2011
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CONSULTANT:
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SUBJECT
Public health: food access
SUMMARY
Establishes, until January 1, 2015, the California Healthy
Food Financing Initiative and Fund for the purpose of
expanding access to healthy foods in underserved
communities. Requires the Department of Food and
Agriculture (CDFA), in consultation with other specified
departments, to implement the initiative and prepare
recommendations by July 1, 2012, on promoting food access.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
Existing law:
Requires, until January 1, 2013, the California Department
of Public Health (CDPH), in conjunction with the CDFA, to
develop a "Healthy Food Purchase" pilot program, in no more
than seven counties, to increase the sale and purchase of
fresh fruits and vegetables in low-income communities, as
specified. CDPH must also develop a process for evaluating
the effectiveness of the pilot, and contract with an
independent external evaluator to conduct the evaluation.
Continued---
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Specifies that CDPH shall apply for available federal
matching funds to support the pilot, and that no General
Fund monies shall be used to fund the program.
This bill:
Establishes the California Healthy Food Financing
Initiative (CHFFI) until January 1, 2015, for the purpose
of expanding access to nutritious foods in underserved
communities, and to eliminate food deserts within seven
years. Requires CDFA, in consultation with CDPH and the
Department of Social Services (DSS) to implement CHFFI
using a diverse mix of funding sources including federal,
state, philanthropic, and private resources.
Requires, as part of the CHFFI, in consultation with the
CDPH and DSS, to provide recommendations to the Legislature
by July 1, 2012, regarding actions that need to be taken to
promote food access within the state. It would also
require CDFA to coordinate efforts to maximize the funding
opportunities provided by the federal 2010 Healthy Food
Financing Initiative.
Authorizes, as part of the CHFFI, the Secretary of Food and
Agriculture to establish an advisory group consisting of
specified entities to assist with developing these
recommendations.
Creates, as part of the CHFFI, the CHFFI Fund (Fund) within
the state treasury, to be used to leverage specified other
funding sources for the purpose of expanding access to
healthy foods in underserved communities.
Makes findings and declarations about access to healthy
food items and the need to protect farmland in California.
FISCAL IMPACT
The Assembly Appropriations Committee analysis states that,
given California's size and its large number of food
deserts, a significant food financing initiative would
likely cost tens of millions of dollars. For comparison,
the analysis cites that the state of Pennsylvania invested
$30 million over a three-year period in their healthy food
initiative.
STAFF ANALYSIS OF ASSEMBLY BILL 581 (John A. Pérez) Page
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BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
The author has introduced AB 581 to increase access to
healthy and nutritious foods to underserved urban and rural
communities in California. Known as "food deserts,"
regions of California with poor 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 CHFFI and
leverage funding from federal and other sources to improve
the health of low-income Californians by increasing access
to nutritious food.
Food deserts
A food desert is described as a geographic area with
limited access to affordable, quality, and nutritious
foods. Lack of healthy, affordable food options can lead to
higher levels of obesity and other diet-related diseases,
such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. The Food,
Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, commonly known as the
Farm Bill, required the United States Department of
Agriculture to study food deserts. Findings from that
study include:
i) Of all U.S. households, 2.3 million (2.2
percent) live more than a mile from a supermarket
and do not have access to a vehicle. An additional
3.4 million households (3.2 percent) live between
one-half to 1 mile from a supermarket and do not
have access to a vehicle.
ii) Area-based measures of access show that 23.5
million people live in low-income areas (areas where
more than 40 percent of the population has an income
at or below 200 percent of federal poverty
thresholds) that are more than 1 mile from a
supermarket or large grocery store. However, not all
of these 23.5 million people have low incomes. If
estimates are restricted to consider only low-income
people in low-income areas, then 11.5 million people
(4.1 percent of the U.S. population) live in
low-income areas more than 1 mile from a
supermarket.
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iii) Data on time-use and travel mode show that
people living in low-income areas with limited
access to healthy food spend significantly more time
(19.5 minutes) traveling to a grocery store than the
national average (15 minutes). However, 93 percent
of those who live in low-income areas with limited
access traveled to the grocery store in a vehicle
they or another household member drove.
A subset of food deserts are areas increasingly referred to
as "food swamps." A food swamp is a defined geographic
area where the overabundance of high-energy foods (for
example, caloric snacks sold at convenience stores or high
fat, high caloric foods sold at fast food outlets)
overwhelms the healthy food options.
Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI)
In February of 2010, the Obama Administration
(Administration) released details of an over $400 million
HFFI, which will help bring grocery stores and other
healthy food retailers to underserved urban and rural
communities across the nation. The HFFI is a partnership
between the federal Departments of the Treasury,
Agriculture, and Health and Human Services. The HFFI seeks
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. These communities are often found in
economically distressed areas, and their residents are
typically served by fast food restaurants and convenience
stores that offer little or no fresh produce.
Through this new multi-year HFFI, and by engaging with the
private sector, the Administration intends to work toward
eliminating food deserts across the country within seven
years. The first year of funding proposes to leverage
enough investments to begin expanding healthy foods options
into as many as one-fifth of the nation's food deserts, and
create thousands of jobs in urban and rural communities
across the nation.
The HFFI appears to be modeled after the Pennsylvania Fresh
Food Financing Initiative (FFFI) that the Pennsylvania
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Legislature created in 2006. FFFI is an innovative program
that increases the number of supermarkets and grocery
stores in underserved communities across the state of
Pennsylvania. Developed as a public-private partnership,
FFFI serves the financing needs of operators located or
locating in communities where infrastructure costs and
credit needs are not met by conventional financial
institutions to increase the availability of fresh food in
low-income neighborhoods. FFFI uses market analysis,
leveraged capital, and public policy to stimulate
supermarket development. Investing in quality food markets
in underserved communities directly benefits low- and
moderate-income communities.
The initiative will make available a mix of federal tax
credits, below-market rate loans, loan guarantees, and
grants to attract private sector capital that will more
than double the total investment. Federal funds will
support projects ranging from the construction or expansion
of a grocery store to smaller-scale interventions such as
placing refrigerated units stocked with fresh produce in
convenience stores.
Related bills
AB 70 (Monning) would require the California Health and
Human Services Agency to direct the appropriate departments
within the agency to apply for federal community
transformation grants under the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act and the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act
of 2010, as specified. AB 70 is pending in the Assembly
Health Committee.
AB 152 (Fuentes) would establish the State Emergency Food
Assistance Program (SEFAP) in statute within DSS and allow
for federal contributions to SEFAP for the purchase of
California grown fresh fruits or vegetables. Provides a
tax credit to California growers for the costs of fresh
fruits or vegetables donated to California food banks.
Directs CDPH to apply for specified federal funding for
obesity prevention and promotion of healthy eating. AB 152
is set for hearing in the Senate Governance and Finance
Committee on July 6, 2011.
AB 727 (Mitchell) would require the Department of General
Services to develop nutritional standards that govern the
foods purchased for all state departments, agencies, and
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state-run institutions in accordance with the federal
dietary guidelines and to develop prescribed guidelines for
sustainable purchasing practices and procedures that
encourage purchasing from local vendors, farms, and
manufacturers when feasible. AB 727 is set for hearing in
the Senate Health Committee on July 6, 2011.
Prior legislation
AB 2720 (John A. Perez) of the 2009-2010 Session was
substantially similar to AB 581. Vetoed with the message:
"While my Administration shares the same goals as the
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."
PRIOR ACTIONS
Assembly Agriculture:9- 0
Assembly Health: 18- 0
Assembly Appropriations:17- 0
Assembly Floor: 76- 0
Senate Agriculture: 6- 0
Arguments in support
The California Catholic Conference (CCC) encourages passage
of AB 581, and believes that access to food is a basic
human right. CCC believes that lack of access to healthy
foods can result in hunger, higher levels of obesity and
other diet-related diseases. The Community Clinic
Association of Los Angeles County (CCALAC) claims to be
committed to both health care and healthy communities, and
believes that access to healthy foods is too limited in
many California communities, specifically low-income and
underserved areas. CCALAC believes that AB 581 directly
impacts clinic and health center patients as it would
promote and potentially increase access to healthy foods in
these communities. The California Nurses Association (CNA)
believes AB 581 would position California to receive
federal dollars to finance healthy food options. CNA claims
that nurses are on the front lines of providing care to
patients who suffer from conditions like diabetes, cancer,
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and obesity, and know firsthand about the importance of
preventing their onset through healthy diets.
COMMENTS
1. Double referral. This bill was first referred to the
Senate Agriculture Committee, where it passed on a 6-0
vote.
2. Agriculture Committee amendments. The author agreed to
the following amendments in the Senate Agriculture
Committee, which will be taken in Senate Health Committee:
a. Set a limit for the number of people on the
advisory committee at 21 members.
b. Require the advisory group to contain
representatives from underserved communities.
3. Federal Healthy Food Financing Initiative. The basis
for the Governor's veto of similar legislation last year
was that Congress had not enacted the HFFI and the federal
funding details were not yet known. In his FY 2012 Budget
Proposal, President Obama requested $330M for the HFFI, but
Congress has yet to finalize action on this proposal.
POSITIONS
Support: American Heart Association
California Catholic Conference
California Center for Rural Policy at Humboldt
State University
California Food Policy Advocates
California Medical Association
California Nurses Association
California Pan-Ethnic Health Network
California Primary Care Association
California State Association of Counties
Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles
County
County Health Executives Association of
California
County of Santa Clara
Latino Coalition for a Healthy California
Western Growers
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Oppose: None received.
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