BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2385 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 14, 2014 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Mike Gatto, Chair AB 2385 (Ting) - As Amended: April 8, 2014 Policy Committee: AgricultureVote:7-0 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No SUMMARY This bill creates the Market Match Nutrition Incentive Program (MMNIP) for encouraging the purchase and consumption of fresh California fruits, nuts, and vegetables by directly linking producers with certain benefit recipients; creates the MMNIP account within the Department of Food and Agriculture (DFA) to collect funds from the federal Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentives Grant Program (a part of the federal Agricultural Act of 2014) and provide grants under MMNIP. The bill directs the DFA to solicit grant proposals, score, and award grant funds in accordance with forthcoming federal regulations, and establish standards, funding schedules, and procedures for awarding grants in consultation with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). The bill also establishes standards for prioritizing grants within the state. FISCAL EFFECT Unknown but likely significant GF costs to DFA, in excess of $150,000, to establish the program, solicit proposals, grant funds, and oversee compliance among grant recipients. COMMENTS 1) Purpose. According to the author, the new federal farm bill made substantial cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the federal funding source for CalFresh), the federal Women, Infants & Children (WIC) program, and other food and nutrition safety net programs that serve people in need, but the federal MMNIP was expanded to provided $100 AB 2385 Page 2 million in grants over five years. The author contends California is in position to benefit from this increase due to the roughly 700 certified farmers' markets and over 2,200 certified producers. 2) Recipients and Benefit. Benefit recipients eligible to receive additional funds include recipients under CalFresh, WIC, the federal Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition Program, and Supplemental Security Income or State Supplementary Payment recipients. The MMNIP is designed to double the value of fresh California fruits, nuts, and vegetables that may be purchased by eligible benefit recipients. 3) Roots of Change Pilot. The sponsor, Roots of Change, used $1.9 million from a DFA specialty block grant to create and fund a market match pilot program from 2009 to 2013. Roots of Change helped establish 14 community-based partners operating in 17 counties, implementing the program in 140 markets and serving 37,000 families. Currently, the program is funded by philanthropic sources at a reduced level, thereby limiting its scope and benefit. The sponsor states that in 2013, $238,000 in the program generated $1.54 million in purchases of products. The sponsor estimates that a $2 million grant from USDA could generate purchases of $18 million, serve 100,000 clients, and generate hundreds of farm jobs. 4) Current Market Match Programs. While this bill would establish a market match program at the state level, there are currently eleven market match programs operating in California known as the California Farmers' Market Consortium. These programs are run by a group of nonprofits and cooperatives and already receive federal market match funds. According to DFA, consumers in California were able to purchase over $1.8 million in specialty crops using CalFresh and WIC benefits between 2010 and 2012 through these local programs. Furthermore, while this bill would codify a MMNIP within DFA, such a program is not a necessary precondition to receiving USDA funds. The benefits envisioned by this bill are, in many cases, already being achieved through local programs, and may also be achievable within DFA without necessarily requiring the legislation proposed here. Analysis Prepared by : Joel Tashjian / APPR. / (916) 319-2081 AB 2385 Page 3