BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 626
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Date of Hearing: April 17, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
AB 626 (Skinner and Lowenthal) - As Amended: April 10, 2013
[Note: This bill is double referred to the Committee on Health
and will be heard by that committee as it relates to issues
under its jurisdiction.]
SUBJECT : School nutrition.
SUMMARY : Makes changes to school nutrition requirements, as
specified. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires that meals provided during the After School Education
and Safety Program conform to the state nutrition standards,
as specified.
2)Prohibits governing boards from having multiple cafeteria
funds and revolving accounts; and, prohibits these funds from
being used in the construction, alteration or improvement of a
central food processing plant, for the installation of
additional cafeteria equipment for the central food processing
plant, and for the lease or purchase of vehicles used
primarily in connection with the central food processing
plant.
3)Deletes an existing authorization for school districts with an
average daily attendance of over 100,000 to allow an
expenditure from the cafeteria fund a share of money agreed
upon by a contract, which is generated from the joint sale of
items between the cafeteria and an associated student body
student store.
4)Specifies the cost of providing adequate housing for
cafeterias, including kitchen facilities, is a charge against
the funds of the school district; and, specifies the cost of
the lease or purchase of cafeteria equipment and of vending
machines and their installation and housing shall be a charge
against cafeteria funds.
5)Requires the governing board to only approve reimbursement for
vending machines if one or both of the following apply:
a) The vending machines are owned and operated by the
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school food services department, sell meals that qualify
for federal meal program reimbursement, and are equipped
with appropriate point of service meal counting software.
b) The vending machines sell food and beverages that comply
with state and federal competitive food laws and
regulations.
6)Prohibits governing boards from maintaining a cafeteria fund
reserve for purchase, lease, maintenance, or replacement of
cafeteria equipment.
7)Specifies that all food and snacks sold to elementary school,
middle school and high school pupils from one-half hour before
the start of the schoolday to one-half hour after the
schoolday must comply with applicable federal and state
nutrition requirements.
8)Authorizes the sale of food and beverage items to elementary
school, middle school and high school pupils that do not
comply with state and federal nutrition requirements to be
sold by anyone if those sales occur:
a) Off school premises.
b) On school premises at least one-half hour after the end
of the schoolday.
9)Prohibits the sale of food and beverage items to middle school
and high school pupils that do not comply with state and
federal nutrition requirements during a school-sponsored
activity after the end of the schoolday.
10)Deletes the authorization for the Superintendent of Public
Instruction (SPI) to monitor school districts for compliance
with school nutrition standards; deletes the requirement that
each school district monitored, report to the SPI in the
coordinated review effort regarding the extent to which it has
complied; deletes the requirement that noncompliant school
districts adopt a corrective action plan; and, instead
specifies that compliance with the school nutrition standards
shall be monitored by the California Department of Education
(CDE) in conformity with the United States Department of
Agriculture's administrative review process.
11)Deletes the Linking Education, Activity, and Food (LEAF)
Pilot grant program.
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12)Deletes obsolete code sections.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to
ensure that the nutrition levels of meals served pursuant to
the National School Lunch Act be of the highest quality and
greatest nutritional value possible. (Education Code (EC)
49590)
2)Requires each school district to provide each needy pupil one
nutritionally adequate, free or reduced-price meal during each
schoolday. (EC 49550)
3)Defines a "nutritionally adequate meal" as one that qualifies
for reimbursement under the federal child nutrition program
regulations. (EC 49553)
4)Requires the CDE to develop and maintain nutrition guidelines
for school lunches and breakfasts and for all food and
beverages sold on public school campuses. These guidelines
shall include recommendations for fat, saturated fat, and
cholesterol. (EC 49531.1)
5)The State Department of Education shall establish a three-year
pilot program in which a total of not less than 10 high
schools, middle schools, or any combination thereof, that
apply are selected to participate. Although the selection
process shall be essentially random, the selection process
shall be weighted so that the pilot program contains
participants that, as a group, are representative of the
geographic diversity of the state. The pilot program shall
commence in the fall of the 2002-03 school year. Participating
districts will be eligible to receive a grant pursuant to
subdivision (c) of Section 49433. Districts will be eligible
for an increased reimbursement rate for free and reduced price
meals served at participating high schools as set forth in
Section 49430.5. (EC 49433.7)
6)Authorizes a school district maintaining at least one
elementary or middle school or high school that is
participating in the pilot program pursuant to Section 49433.7
may convene a Child Nutrition and Physical Activity Advisory
Committee that shall develop and recommend to the governing
board of the school district for its adoption, school district
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policies on nutrition and physical activity. (EC 49433)
7)The governing board of any school district with an average
daily attendance of over 100,000 may allow as an expenditure
from the cafeteria fund or account a share of money agreed
upon pursuant to a contract, which is generated from the joint
sale of items between the cafeteria and an associated student
body student store. The expenditure must result from an
agreement entered into by the cafeteria and the associated
student body in which pupils will participate in the operation
of the store. (EC 38092)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Federal Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.
This bill comes at the same time as a major overhaul of federal
nutrition standards for the National School Lunch Program
(NSLP). The federal Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which
was signed into law by President Obama in December of 2010,
makes the first significant changes to the nutritional
regulations over the NSLP since 1995. In January 2012, the
United States Department of Agriculture released the Final Rule
Nutrition Standards for the National School Lunch and School
Breakfast Programs in accordance with the new federal
legislation. As part of the new regulations, schools are
required to serve food options that align with meal patterns
specifying acceptable quantities of different types of food. The
Institute of Medicine recently identified such an approach as a
method to increase the amount of fruits and vegetables
individuals eat while decreasing the level of saturated fat,
sodium and carbohydrates. As a result of the new meal patterns,
schools must provide students enough servings of the appropriate
food categories as required by the Final Rule Nutrition
Standards.
According to the author, as the State Educational Agency for
federal School Nutrition Programs, the California Department of
Education (CDE) is required to ensure that Local Educational
Agencies (LEA) participating in federal School Nutrition
Programs comply with all applicable California State and federal
laws and regulations. The Federal Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act
of 2010 (HHFKA) has set a new set of nutritional standards for
elementary, middle, and high schools. In addition to healthier
nutritional standards, the HHFKA also aims at increasing access
for students and improving oversight of Nutritional programs.
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This bill makes changes to current state laws in order to comply
with the new federal laws and regulations set forth by the
Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. Specifically the
proposal makes the following changes in order to comply with the
Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act:
1. Allows afterschool programs the option to serve meals,
such as dinner.
2. Clarifies what food items can be sold one-half hour
before school and one-half hour after school at an
elementary school, middle school, and high school. Food
items sold during those time periods must meet the new
federal standards and regulations.
a. For example, items may include full meals,
individually sold dairy or whole grain foods, and
individually sold portions of nuts, nut butters,
seeds, eggs, cheese packaged for individual sale,
fruit, vegetables that have not been deep fried, and
legumes.
3. Clarifies what beverages can be sold one-half hour
before school and one-half hour after school at an
elementary school, middle school, and high school.
a. For example, beverages may include,
fruit-based drinks that are composed of no less than
50 percent fruit juice and have no added sweetener,
vegetable-based drinks that are composed of no less
than 50 percent vegetable juice and have no added
sweetener, drinking water with no added sweetener,
two-percent-fat milk, one-percent-fat milk, nonfat
milk, soy milk, rice milk, and other similar nondairy
milk.
4. Restricts the sale of food items and beverages that do
not meet federal standards. The sale of those items must
take place off and away from school premises or take place
on school premises at least one-half hour after the end of
the school day.
5. Restricts the use of cafeteria funds to purchase land or
buildings or to build buildings.
Federal Compliance and Code Clean-Up : This bill makes several
changes to bring California's school cafeteria and nutrition
laws into compliance with the recent changes in Federal
nutrition regulations in addition to making several substantive
changes that are not specifically related to the Federal
compliance issues. The compliance changes include those
involving the co-mingling of cafeteria fund accounts and those
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specifying that cafeteria funds cannot be used to purchase land
or otherwise modernize cafeteria buildings; and, the deletion of
other sections that authorize co-mingling of student body funds
with cafeteria funds. Existing law authorizes the sale of
specified beverages from 30 minutes before the start of the
school day until 30 minutes after the end of the school day.
This measure specifies that only food items that meets the state
and federal nutrition standards may also be sold from 30 minutes
before the start of the school day until 30 minutes after the
end of the school day. The bill also specifies that if food
sales are at least 30 minutes after the end of the school day,
students do not need sell the food to comply. The bill also
authorizes afterschool programs to serve meals in addition to
snacks, and specifies that those meals must meet the state
nutrition requirements. Further the bill makes several changes
to the law to clean up duplicative and obsolete code sections.
The measure deletes references to a school nutrition pilot
program that was previously funded and ended in 2004. Lastly
the bill specifies that school nutrition programs shall be
monitored by the California Department of Education (CDE) in
conformity with the United States Department of Agriculture's
administrative review process.
Requiring Vending Machines to Sell Food : This measure requires
that school cafeteria funds only be used to lease, purchase,
install or house vending machines if the machines are owned and
operated by the school food services department, and the vending
machines sell meals that qualify for federal meal program
reimbursement and are equipped with appropriate point of service
counting software; OR, the vending machines sell food and
beverages that comply with state and federal competitive food
laws and regulations. This means that vending machines paid for
with cafeteria funds would now be required to sell food, if they
are to sell beverages. In other words, school cafeteria funds
could not be used for vending machines that only sell beverages.
The author's intent is to authorize the sale of food or
beverages, and not require the sale of both. Committee staff
recommends the bill be amended to specify that vending machines
paid for with cafeteria funds can only sell food, beverages or
both that comply with state and federal nutrition standards.
Nutrition Requirements for After School Programs : This bill
requires afterschool programs that serve meals (lunch or dinner)
to comply with state nutrition standards. State nutrition
standards only specify the requirements for a la carte foods and
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lay out specific calorie content for these a la carte foods.
Requiring meals to comply with these a la carte nutrition
requirements would be difficult since most meals have higher
calorie content than what is allowable for a la carte foods.
The author has indicated that the intent is to authorize
afterschool programs to offer a meal under the USDA's At-Risk
Afterschool Meal Component of the Child and Adult Care Food
Program and be reimbursed by that program. Committee staff
recommends the bill be amended to authorize afterschool programs
to offer a meal if they comply with the nutrition requirements
of the USDA's At-Risk Afterschool Meal Component of the Child
and Adult Care Food Program or the National School Lunch
Program.
Committee Amendments :
1) Specify that vending machines paid for with cafeteria
funds can only sell food, beverages or both that comply
with state and federal nutrition standards.
2) Authorize afterschool programs to offer a meal if they
comply with the nutrition requirements of the USDA's
At-Risk Afterschool Meal Component of the Child and Adult
Care Food Program or the National School Lunch Program.
3) To clarify a drafting error, authorize the cost of
maintenance of kitchen equipment to be charged against
cafeteria funds.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson
(Sponsor)
California Black Health Network
California Chiropractic Association
California Food Policy Advocates
California Optometric Association
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087
AB 626
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