BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      AB 1321


                                                                      Page  1





       Date of Hearing:  April 29, 2015


                         ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE


                               Henry T. Perea, Chair


       AB 1321  
       (Ting) - As Introduced February 27, 2015


       SUBJECT:  Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Program.


       SUMMARY:  This bill establishes the Nutrition Incentive Matching  
       Grant (NIMG) Program in the Office of Farm to Fork (OF2F), creates a  
       NIMG account and requires OF2F to establish minimum standards,  
       funding schedules and grant procedures for the NIMG program.     
       Specifically, this bill:  


       1)Establishes the NIMG program within OF2F for the purpose of  
         encouraging the buying and eating of California fruit, nuts and  
         vegetables.



       2)Defines the following:



          a)   Nutrition benefit client (NBC) means a person who receives  
            services or payments through any of the following:











                                                                      AB 1321


                                                                      Page  2






            i)     California Special Supplemental Food Program for Women,  
              Infants, and Children (WIC), as described in current state  
              law; 



            ii)    CalWORKS program, as described in current state law;



            iii)   CalFresh, as described in current state law;



            iv)    Implementation of the federal WIC Farmers' Market  
              Nutrition Act of 1992;



            v)     The Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition Program, as current  
              United State law; or,



            vi)    Supplemental Security Income or State Supplementary  
              Payment, as current United State law.



          b)   Defines a qualified entity as:



            i)     A certified farmers' market, an association of certified  
              producers, or a nonprofit organization representing a  
              collective or association of certified producers, as  









                                                                      AB 1321


                                                                      Page  3





              specified; or,



            ii)    A small business that sells California grown fresh  
              fruits, nuts, and vegetables and is authorized to accept  
              nutrition benefits from any of the programs uses by NBC, as  
              specified.



          c)   Defines a consumer incentive program (CIP) to mean a program  
            administered by a qualified entity that doubles the purchasing  
            value of a NBC's benefits when the benefits are used to purchase  
            California fresh fruits, nuts, and vegetables.



       3)Creates the NIMG account within OF2F to collect matching funds from  
         federal grant programs, and other public and private sources.



       4)Requires OF2F to provide and administer grants under the NIMG  
         program in accordance with the following:



          a)   Requires, subject to federal regulation and state  
            appropriations, funds in the NIMG account be awarded by grants  
            to qualified entities for a CIP; 



          b)   Requires OF2F to establish minimum standards, funding  
            schedules and procedures for awarding grants, in consultation  
            with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and  









                                                                      AB 1321


                                                                      Page  4





            other specified parties of interest, as specified;



            i)     Requires OF2F to not spend more than one-third of NIMG  
              programs funds on CIP.



          c)   Requires OF2F to prioritize the awarding of NIMGs based on,  
            but not limited to, the following:



            i)     Known demographic information as follows:



               (1)       The NBC in an area;



               (2)       The prevalence of diabetes, obesity or other diet  
                 related diseases; and,



               (3)       The availability of fresh fruits, nuts and  
                 vegetables.



            ii)    Demonstrated skill in administering a CIP; and,


            iii)   Areas where the current population is not being served a  
              CIP.









                                                                      AB 1321


                                                                      Page  5







       EXISTING LAW: 


       1)Establishes OF2F within the Department of Food and Agriculture  
         (CDFA), to work with various entities involved in promoting food  
         access, and to increase the amount of agricultural products  
         available to schools and underserved communities in the state.



       2)Requires OF2F to 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. 



       3)Creates the Farm to Fork Account in the CDFA Fund consisting of  
         money made available from federal, state, industry, and other  
         sources, and would continuously appropriate the money deposited in  
         the account to carry out the purposes of OF2F.


       EXISTING FEDERAL LAW:


       1)Establishes the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP),  
         formerly the food stamp program, administered by USDA, which  
         imposes specified rules on specified program participants and  
         limits benefits based on those rules.  



       2)Establishes state grants for programs that supplement nutrition  
         benefits that are spent on products at farmers' markets, based upon  









                                                                      AB 1321


                                                                      Page  6





         specified criteria.  


       FISCAL EFFECT:  Unknown.  This bill is keyed Fiscal by Legislative  
       Counsel.


       COMMENTS:  The California Market Match (MM) program was launched in  
       2009 to encourage low-income families receiving benefits through SNAP  
       to purchase fresh, locally-grown fruits and vegetables at farmers'  
       markets.  The program "matches" or doubles the amount of benefits  
       these families can spend and has expanded operations to over 150  
       farmers' markets across California and increased the spending power  
       of 37,000 families.  





       According to the author, strong demand for MM often outstrips  
       available funding for the program.  The 2014 federal Farm Bill  
       included $100 million in grant funding for programs such as Market  
       Match that incentivize healthier eating amongst SNAP recipients.  In  
       order to best position local programs to receive these federal  
       grants, this bill creates a state NIMG Program to apply for federal  
       funds and award them to local MM programs with a proven record of  
       success.  Establishing a state framework to oversee funding of MM  
       programs would leverage state resources to streamline local program  
       administration, and expand MM programs across a more equitable  
       cross-section of communities that lack access to fresh produce.





       One of the co-sponsors of this bill, Roots of Change, explained how  
       they used $1.9 million in CDFA Specialty Crop Block Grant money, and  









                                                                      AB 1321


                                                                      Page  7





       nearly $300,000 in philanthropic funds from 2009 to 2013, to create  
       the California MM pilot program.  The MM pilot program has expanded  
       market opportunities for specialty crop farmers.  Supporters state  
       that community-based partners operated in 23 counties to implement MM  
       programs in 150 markets in 2014.  Currently, the incentive match  
       funds used to increase purchasing power are derived from  
       philanthropic sources only and are therefore limited in scope.   
       Supporters state the goal of this bill is to assist the state in  
       leveraging federal dollars to increase specialty crop sales among  
       low-income Californians.





       The author states that California is uniquely positioned to benefit  
       from greater proliferation of programs such as MM.  California grows  
       over 400 commodities and produces nearly half of US-grown fruits,  
       nuts and vegetables.  There are approximately 700 certified Farmers'  
       Markets and 2,200 certified producers in California.  Furthermore,  
       the author stresses that California has a persistent poverty problem  
       to solve.  24% of Californians live in poverty and is ranked 50th in  
       the rate of participation in SNAP.  Scaling up MM programs would  
       create an incentive for more families to utilize their SNAP benefits  
       and ensure more Californians can afford to eat what is grown locally.


       REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:




       Support













                                                                      AB 1321


                                                                      Page  8






       Ecology Center (co-sponsor)


       Roots of Change (co-sponsor)


       Latino Coalition for a Healthy California 


         (co-sponsor) 


       Public Health Institute (co-sponsor) 





       Agricultural Commissioner of the City/County 
         of San Francisco
       Agricultural Institute of Marin


       Agriculture and Land-based Training Association
       AltaMed Health Services Corporation


       American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network


       American Heart Association


       American Stroke Association


       Ashland Cherryland Food Policy Council








                                                                      AB 1321


                                                                      Page  9







       Berkeley Food Institute 
       Building Healthy Communities: Long Beach


       California Alliance of Farmers' Markets


       California Association of Food Banks


       California Black Health Network


       California Certified Organic Farmers


       California Commission on Aging


       California Convergence


       California Farm Bureau Federation


       California Food Policy Advocates


       California Food Policy Council


       California Hunger Action Coalition


       California Pan-Ethnic Health Network









                                                                      AB 1321


                                                                      Page  10






       California Partnership


       California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation


       Center for Food Safety


       City of Santa Monica


       City of Santa Monica's Farmers' Market Program


       Coastside Farmers' Markets


       Community Alliance with Family Farmers


       Community Food and Justice Coalition


       County of Yolo


       CUESA


       Cultiva La Salud


       Enrich LA


       Feeding America San Diego








                                                                      AB 1321


                                                                      Page  11







       First 5 LA
       Food Chain Workers Alliance


       Food for People, Food Bank for Humboldt County


       Hunger Action Los Angeles


       Hunger Advocacy Network


       Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles


       Los Angeles Community Action Network


       Los Angeles Food Policy Council


       Madera County Agricultural Commissioner


       Natural Resources Defense Council


       North Coast Growers' Association


       Orange County Food Access Coalition


       Pacific Coast Farmers' Market Association
       Plumas-Sierra Community Food Council








                                                                      AB 1321


                                                                      Page  12







       PolicyLink


       Prevention Institute


       Project Angel Food


       San Diego Hunger Coalition


       San Francisco Food Security Task Force


       San Francisco Unified School District


       San Francisco Urban Agriculture Alliance


       Santa Barbara Food Alliance


       Santa Cruz County Agricultural Commissioner


       Sebastopol Farmers Market
       SF-Marin Food Bank


       Slow Food California


       Social Justice Learning Institute









                                                                      AB 1321


                                                                      Page  13






       Sprouts of Promise Foundation


       SPUR


       St. Anthony Foundation


       Strategic Alliance for Healthy Food & Activity Environments


       Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles


       Sustainable Economies Law Center


       Thai Community Development Center


       The Farmers Guild


       UC San Diego, Department of Pediatrics Center for Community Health


       United Food & Commercial Workers Union, Western States Council


       United Way of Kern County


       Urban & Environment Policy Institute 


       Volunteers of East Los Angeles








                                                                      AB 1321


                                                                      Page  14







       Wellington Square Certified Farmers Market


       Western Center on Law & Poverty


       Western Growers


       Women Organizing Resources, Knowledge & Services


       Yolo County Ag & Food Alliance




       




       Opposition


       None of file




       Analysis Prepared by:Victor Francovich / AGRI. / (916) 319-2084













                                                                      AB 1321


                                                                      Page  15