BILL NUMBER: AB 1321	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Ting
   (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Bonta)
   (Principal coauthor: Senator Wolk)
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Levine and Perea)

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2015

   An act to add Chapter 13 (commencing with Section 49010) to
Division 17 of the Food and Agricultural Code, relating to food and
agriculture.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1321, as introduced, Ting. Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant
Program.
   Existing law establishes the Office of Farm to Fork within the
Department of Food and Agriculture, and requires the office, to the
extent that resources are available, to work with various entities,
including, among others, the agricultural industry and other
organizations involved in promoting food access, to increase the
amount of agricultural products available to underserved communities
and schools in the state. Existing law requires the office to, among
other things, identify urban and rural communities that lack access
to healthy food, and to coordinate with local, state, and federal
agencies to promote and increase awareness of programs that promote
greater food access. Existing law creates the Farm to Fork Account in
the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund that would consist of
money made available from federal, state, industry, and other
sources, and would continuously appropriate the money deposited in
the account without regard to fiscal years to carry out the purposes
of the Office of Farm to Fork.
   This bill would establish the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant
Program in the Office of Farm to Fork, and would create the Nutrition
Incentive Matching Grant Account in the Farm to Fork Account to
collect matching funds received from a specified federal grant
program and funds from other public and private sources to provide
grants under the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Program and to
administer the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Program. The bill
would require that moneys in the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant
Account be awarded in the form of grants to qualified entities, as
defined, for consumer incentive programs, as defined, subject to an
appropriation in the annual Budget Act and in accordance with certain
priorities. The bill would require the Office of Farm to Fork to
establish minimum standards, funding schedules, and procedures for
awarding grants, as specified.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Chapter 13 (commencing with Section 49010) is added to
Division 17 of the Food and Agricultural Code, to read:
      CHAPTER 13.  NUTRITION INCENTIVE MATCHING GRANT PROGRAM


   49010.  This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the
California Nutrition Incentives Act.
   49011.  The Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Program is hereby
established in the Office of Farm to Fork for purposes of encouraging
the purchase and consumption of California fresh fruits, nuts, and
vegetables by directly linking California fresh fruit, nut, and
vegetable producers with nutrition benefit clients.
   49012.  For purposes of this article, the following definitions
shall apply:
   (a) "Nutrition benefit client" means a person who receives
services or payments through any of the following:
   (1) California Special Supplemental Food Program for Women,
Infants, and Children, as described in Section 123280 of the Health
and Safety Code.
   (2) CalWORKS program, as described in Chapter 2 (commencing with
Section 11200) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code.
   (3) CalFresh, as described in Section 18900.2 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code.
   (4) Implementation of the federal WIC Farmers' Market Nutrition
Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-314).
   (5) The Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition Program, as described in
Section 3007 of Title 7 of the United States Code.
   (6) Supplemental Security Income or State Supplementary Payment,
as described in Section 1381 et seq. of Title 42 of the United States
Code.
   (b) "Qualified entity," for purposes of this article, means either
of the following:
   (1) A certified farmers' market, as described in Section 47004, an
association of certified producers, or a nonprofit organization
representing a collective or association of certified producers that
is authorized by the United States Department of Agriculture to
accept federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Chapter 51
(commencing with Section 2011) of Title 7 of the United States Code)
benefits from recipient purchasers at a farmers' market. Certified
producers shall be certified by the county agricultural commissioner
pursuant to Section 47020.
   (2) A small business, as defined in Section 14837 of the
Government Code, that sells California grown fresh fruits, nuts, and
vegetables and that is authorized to accept nutrition benefits from
any of the programs listed in paragraphs (1) to (6), inclusive, of
subdivision (a).
   (c) "Consumer incentive program" means a program administered by a
qualified entity that doubles the purchasing value of a nutrition
benefit client's benefits when the benefits are used to purchase
California fresh fruits, nuts, and vegetables.
   49013.  The Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Account is hereby
created in the Farm to Fork Account to collect matching funds from
the federal Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentives Grant Program (7
U.S.C. Sec. 7517), and other public and private sources, to provide
grants under the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Program and to
administer the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Program in
accordance with all of the following:
   (a) Subject to the regulations adopted by the National Institute
of Food and Agriculture in the United States Department of
Agriculture in accordance with the federal Agricultural Act of 2014
(Public Law 113-79) and an appropriation in the annual Budget Act,
moneys in the Nutrition Incentive Matching Account shall be awarded
in the form of grants to qualified entities for consumer incentive
programs.
   (b) (1) The Office of Farm to Fork shall establish minimum
standards, funding schedules, and procedures for awarding grants in
consultation with the United States Department of Agriculture and
other interested stakeholders, including, but not limited to, the
State Department of Public Health, State Department of Social
Services, organizations with expertise in nutrition benefit programs
or consumer incentive programs, small business owners that may
qualify as a qualified entity, and certified farmers' market
operators.
   (2) The department shall not use more than one-third of the
Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Program funds for consumer
incentive programs with entities described in paragraph (2) of
subdivision (b) of Section 49012.
   (c) Priority in the awarding of grants by the department to
qualified entities shall be based on, but not limited to, the
following:
   (1) The degree of the existence of the following demographic
conditions and the character of the communities in which sales of
California grown fresh fruits, nuts, and vegetables are made to the
public by authorized vendors operating in conjunction with a
qualified entity:
   (A) The number of people who are eligible for, or receiving,
nutrition benefit program services.
   (B) The prevalence of diabetes, obesity, and other diet-related
illnesses.
   (C) The availability of access to fresh fruits, nuts, and
vegetables.
   (2) Demonstrated efficiency in the administration of a consumer
incentive program.
   (3) The service of an area of population currently not being
served by a consumer incentive program.