BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Bill No: SB
912
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Senator Lou Correa, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
Staff Analysis
SB 912 Author: Mitchell
As Introduced: January 23, 2014
Hearing Date: April 8, 2014
Consultant: Paul Donahue
SUBJECT
State property: Vending machines
DESCRIPTION
This bill removes a sunset clause and thereby makes
permanent an existing law requiring operators of vending
machines on designated state property to stock them with
specified percentages of food and beverages that meet
accepted nutritional guidelines.
EXISTING LAW
1)Requires a vendor that operates or maintains a vending
machine<1> on state property to offer at least 35 percent
of the food, and at least one-third of the beverages in a
vending machine that meets accepted nutritional
guidelines.
2)Specifies that a separate one-third of the beverages
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<1> Under the law, "vending machine" means any mechanical
device the operation of which depends upon the insertion of
a coin or other thing representative of value and that
dispenses or vends a food product or beverage, but does not
include any mechanical device that is unable to dispense
any food or beverage meeting accepted nutritional
guidelines without physical alteration or any mechanical
device that solely dispenses or vends hot beverages or ice
cream.
SB 912 (Mitchell) continued
PageB
offered in the vending machine shall either meet accepted
nutritional guidelines or be flavored milk, beverages
containing less than 20 calories per 12 ounce serving, or
beverages that are composed of at least 50 percent fruit
juice that may contain non-caloric sweetener. The
remaining one-third of the beverages offered in the
vending machine may be any beverage allowed by law.
3)Provides that if a vendor operates or maintains two or
more vending machines that are located next to each
other, the requirements may be met by calculating the
percentage of the total food and beverages offered in all
of the adjacent machines.
4)Defines "accepted nutritional guidelines" as follows:
a) Beverages that are the following or meet the
following standards:
i) Water.
ii) Milk, including, but not limited to, soy milk,
rice milk, and other similar dairy or nondairy milk.
iii) Electrolyte replacement beverages that do not
contain more than 42 grams of added sweetener<2> per
20-ounce serving.
iv) One hundred percent fruit juice.
v) Fruit-based drinks that are composed of no less
than 50 percent fruit juice and that have no added
sweeteners.
b) Food that meets the following standards:
i) Not more than 35 percent of its total calories
are from fat, except that this does not apply to
nuts, seeds, or whole grain products.
ii) Not more than 10 percent of its total calories
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<2> "Added sweetener" means any additive that enhances the
sweetness of a beverage, including, but not limited to,
added sugar, but does not include the natural sugar or
sugars that are contained within the fruit juice that is a
component of the beverage.
SB 912 (Mitchell) continued
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are from saturated fats.
iii) Not more than 35 percent of its total weight is
from sugar, except that this does not apply to
fruits and vegetables.
BACKGROUND
1)Purpose : The author states that healthier food options in
state buildings will help reduce the prevalence and cost
of diet-related diseases, while promoting the well-being
of state employees and the general public. The author
states further that California has been a leader in
promoting healthy choices in the vending machines on
state property. Since 2008, state law has required that
one-third of beverages, and thirty-five percent of the
food (since 2011), in vending machines on state property
meet minimal nutritional standards.
However, a January 1, 2015 sunset on current law threatens
to eliminate these healthier options for consumers. SB
912 simply preserves current law by removing the sunset
on the required nutritional guidelines, thereby providing
consumers with the continued opportunity to make healthy
choices. California is in the midst of an obesity and
diabetes epidemic and now is not the time to abandon this
modest but important policy, according to the author's
office.
2)The author states that studies have shown a relationship
between the physical and social environments at the
workplace and the health behaviors of employees. Nearly
half of our waking hours are spent at the workplace, and
the foods available in employee cafeterias, vending
machines, and work-sponsored events frequently determine
what people eat throughout the day. As one of the first
states in the country to implement nutrition standards
and prohibit sugar-sweetened beverages in our schools,
California should continue to be a leader in creating
healthy food environments.
3)Support : The supporting organizations stress that we need
to make sure that California does not go backwards from
the progress it has made in combating the obesity
epidemic. More than half of adults and teens in the state
are either overweight or obese. Supporters also note that
SB 912 (Mitchell) continued
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the foods available in employee cafeterias, vending
machines, and work-sponsored events frequently determine
what people eat throughout the day. They also note that
today, in addition to the existing requirements on
vending machines in state buildings, 15 cities and
counties in California have adopted nutritional standards
for vending machines on government property. They believe
that California should continue to be a leader in
creating healthy food environments.
4)Legally blind vendor program : The California Department
of Rehabilitation (DOR) provides an opportunity for
legally blind individuals to become independent food
service professionals under the federal Business
Enterprise Program (BEP).<3> Under federal and state
guidelines those individuals considered legally blind are
given priority in operating food services facilities
within federal and state buildings. According to DOR,
these vendors earn a median net monthly income of
approximately $2,700. The program also provides an
additional 677 food service jobs to serve the thousands
of customers that are served each day in the 407 BEP
sites in California, operated by 122 BEP Vendors.
BEP provides DOR consumers with training in the operation
of cafeterias, vending stands, convenience stores, and
vending machine locations. The training consists of a
combination of classroom and operational skills training
at designated BEP facilities. The training program
emphasizes food service management, quality customer
service, menu planning, sanitation and safety and
merchandising.
5)Suggested technical amendment : Because this bill
continues indefinitely the requirement by vendors to
offer at least 35 percent of the food in a vending
machine, the author and the Committee may wish to
consider amending the bill to eliminate subdivision (c)
of Section 11005.4 of the Government Code, which appears
on Page, lines 3 through 7, inclusive, of SB 912. The
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<3> The BEP was created by the Randolph-Sheppard Act of
1936, which was enacted to "provide blind persons with
remunerative employment, enlarging the economic
opportunities of the blind, and stimulating the blind to
greater efforts in striving to make themselves
self-supporting."
SB 912 (Mitchell) continued
PageE
provisions suggested for deletion would read as follows:
" (c) A vendor may meet the requirements in
subdivision (b) by offering 25 percent of the
food in a vending machine that meets accepted
nutritional guidelines by January 1, 2009, and
by offering the total 35 percent of the food
required to meet accepted nutritional
guidelines by January 1, 2011.
(d) (c) If a vendor operates or maintains two
or more vending machines that are located next
to each other, the provisions of subdivisions
(b) and (c) subdivision (b) may be met by
calculating the percentage of the total food
and beverages offered in all of the adjacent
machines."
PRIOR/RELATED LEGISLATION
SB 1000 (Monning), 2013-2014 Session. Would establish the
Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Safety Warning Act, which would
require safety warning labels on all sugar-sweetened
beverages offered for sale in California. (Pending in
Senate Health Committee)
AB 727 (Mitchell), 2011-2012 Session. Would have required
at least 50% of food and beverages offered in vending
machines and cafeterias located on state property to meet
specified nutritional guidelines by the year 2014. (Held in
Senate Appropriations)
SB 490 (Alquist), Chapter 648, Statutes of 2007. Prohibits
schools from selling foods containing trans-fats.
SB 441 (Torlakson), Chapter 597, Statutes of 2007. Requires
that at least 35 percent of the food and beverages sold at
vending machines in state buildings and facilities meet
accepted nutritional guidelines.
SB 12 (Escutia), Chapter 235, Statutes of 2006. Among other
things, imposed specified nutrition standards in elementary
schools, beginning July 1, 2007.
SB 677 (Ortiz), Chapter 415, Statutes of 2003. Restricts
the types of beverages that can be sold to pupils in
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elementary and middle or junior high schools.
SB 19 (Escutia), Chapter 913, Statutes of 2001. Established
a "comprehensive" nutrition and school health program that
restricts the types of foods that can be sold at schools.
SUPPORT:
ACCESS Women's health Justice
ACT for Women and Girls
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees
American Heart Association/American Stroke Association
Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles
Black Women for Wellness
California Automatic Vendors Council
California Black Health Network
California Center for Public Health Advocacy
California Immigrant Policy Center
California Latinas for Reproductive Justice
California Medical Association
California Pan-Ethnic Network
California Partnership
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
California WIC Association
Cal-Islanders Humanitarian Association
Center for Science in the Public Interest
Central Valley Partnership for Citizenship
Centro Binacional para el Desarrollo Idigena Oaxaqueno -
Fresno
Centro Binacional para el Desarrollo Idigena Oaxaqueno -
Greenfield
Centro Binacional para el Desarrollo Idigena Oaxaqueno -
Los Angeles
Chinese Progressive Association
Clinica Msr. Oscar A. Romero
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles
County Health Executives Association of California
Congress of California Seniors
Day One, Inc.
Earth Mama Healing
El Quinto Sol
Fresno Center for New Americans
Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries
Guam Communications Network
SB 912 (Mitchell) continued
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Korean Community Center of the East Bay
Korean Resource Center
Latino Coalition for a Healthy California
Libreria del Pueblo
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Madera Coalition
Mid-City CAN
Pacific Islander Cancer Survivors Network
Prevention Institute
Roots Community Health Center/Roots Community Health
Alliance
Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network
South Asian Network
SSG/Pals for Health
Strategic Alliance for Healthy Food and Activity
Environments
Street Level Health Project
The Council of Mexican Federations
United Taxi Workers of San Diego
Vision y Compromiso
Young Invincibles
OPPOSE:
None on file
FISCAL COMMITTEE: Senate Appropriations Committee