BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                       AB 1747|
          |Office of Senate Floor Analyses   |                              |
          |(916) 651-1520    Fax: (916)      |                              |
          |327-4478                          |                              |
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                                   THIRD READING 


          Bill No:  AB 1747
          Author:   Weber (D), et al.
          Amended:  6/30/16 in Senate
          Vote:     21 

           SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE:  9-0, 6/22/16
           AYES:  Liu, Block, Hancock, Huff, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan,  
            Vidak

           SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE:  4-1, 6/28/16
           AYES:  McGuire, Hancock, Liu, Nguyen
           NOES:  Berryhill

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE:  Senate Rule 28.8

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  70-7, 6/2/16 - See last page for vote

           SUBJECT:   Food assistance:  higher education students


          SOURCE:    Hunger Advocacy Network of San Diego
                     University of California Student Association
                     Western Center on Law and Poverty
                     Young Invincibles 


          DIGEST:  This bill requires each public and private  
          postsecondary education institution that is located in a county  
          that participates in the Restaurant Meals Program to apply to  
          become an approved food vendor for participation in this  
          program.










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          ANALYSIS:  

          Existing law:  

          1)Establishes the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance  
            Program (SNAP) and the CalFresh program which administers the  
            federal SNAP benefit program for families and individuals  
            meeting income and other eligibility criteria.  (Welfare and  
            Institutions Code § 18900, et seq.)

          2)Establishes the Restaurant Meals Program within the SNAP  
            program to allow eligible homeless, disabled or elderly SNAP  
            (CalFresh in California) recipients to purchase hot, prepared  
            food from participating restaurants.  (United States Code,  
            Title 7, § 2020)  

          This bill: 

          1)Requires each public and private postsecondary education  
            institution that is located in a county that participates in  
            the Restaurant Meals Program to do all of the following:

              a)    Apply to become an approved food vendor for the  
                Restaurant Meals Program, if the institution operates any  
                qualifying food facility on campus.

              b)    Annually provide all on-campus food vendors not  
                operated by the institution with information regarding the  
                Restaurant Meals Program and the manner in which to apply.

              c)    If an on-campus food vendor has been approved to  
                participate in the Restaurant Meals Program, annually  
                inform students about the program using information  
                provided by the Department of Social Services.  

          2)Provides that this bill does not require an institution to  
            create, operate, or maintain an electronic benefits transfer  
            system on behalf of on-campus food vendors.  

          3)Requires approved food vendors and counties participating in  
            the Restaurant Meals Program to meet the requirements of the  
            Restaurant Meals Program.

          4)Establishes the Public Higher Education Pantry Assistance  







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            Program Account in the existing Emergency Food Assistance  
            Fund, and requires funds in the pantry account, upon  
            appropriation by the Legislature, to be allocated to the  
            Department of Social Services for allocation to food banks  
            that meet both of the following criteria:

             a)   The primary function of the food bank is the  
               distribution of food to low-income households.

             b)   The food bank has identified specific costs associated  
               with supporting on-campus pantry and hunger relief efforts  
               serving low-income students.

             c)   Requires the Department of Social Services, subject to  
               the approval of the state's outreach plan by the United  
               States Department of Agriculture, to act as the state  
               entity for receipt of federal reimbursement if a private  
               non-profit organization, public postsecondary educational  
               institution, or other state or local agency secures funds  
               for CalFresh outreach activities that are allowable for  
               partial federal reimbursement.

          Comments
          
          Who is eligible to be served?  The Restaurant Meals Program is  
          restricted to people who are elderly, homeless, or disabled.   
          This bill does not expand eligibility for the Restaurant Meals  
          Program to students who are not elderly, homeless, or disabled.   
          Staff understands that eligibility is determined by the federal  
          United States Department of Agriculture, and therefore state  
          statute cannot expand eligibility for the Restaurant Meals  
          Program to students who are not elderly, homeless, or disabled.   
          As a result, this bill applies only to individuals (including  
          students) who are elderly, homeless, or disabled.

          This bill does not limit participation in the Restaurant Meals  
          Program on postsecondary education campuses to eligible  
          students.  Therefore, all eligible recipients (elderly,  
          homeless, or disabled), regardless of whether or not the  
          recipient is a student on that campus, would be able to access  
          the approved food facilities on campuses.  Senate Education  
          Committee staff notes that a member of the general public may  
          currently access a food facility on a campus without being a  
          student, faculty or employee of that campus.







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          This bill does not modify or expand eligibility for CalFresh; a  
          person accessing a Restaurant Meals Program on a postsecondary  
          education campus would have to be enrolled in CalFresh.  

          Restaurant Meals Program.  The Restaurant Meals Program is an  
          option within the SNAP program to allow eligible elderly,  
          homeless, or disabled SNAP (CalFresh in California) recipients  
          to purchase hot, prepared food from participating restaurants.   
          Participation in the Restaurant Meals Program by a county is  
          voluntary, and requires a county that wishes to participate to  
          submit a proposal for approval to the California Department of  
          Social Services.  Restaurants that apply to participate in this  
          program must meet specific requirements, including entering into  
          a Memorandum of Understanding with the county to delineate the  
          responsibilities of each entity.  
          
          There are currently only six counties in California that have  
          chosen to participate:  Alameda, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San  
          Diego, San Francisco, and Santa Clara counties.  A participating  
          county must specific requirements, including entering into a  
          Memorandum of Understanding with the food vendor to delineate  
          the responsibilities of each entity.  

          Existing efforts on public campuses.  The University of  
          California (UC) launched the Global Food Initiative, and in  
          March 2015, the President of the UC allocated $75,000 per campus  
          to support the effort.  As part of the first phase, UC Global  
          Food Initiative working groups are developing best practices,  
          and the toolkits to implement them, that, once successfully  
          deployed systemwide at UC, can be offered to schools and  
          communities nationwide.  Many UC campuses have food pantries and  
          partner with local food banks.

          The Chancellor of the California State University (CSU)  
          commissioned a study to shed light on how CSU campuses were  
          meeting the needs of displaced and food insecure students and to  
          offer recommendations to ensure success and graduation for these  
          students. The study found, among others, that student survey  
          results showed 24% of students expressing they had food  
          insecurities; 11 campuses had programs for food insecure  
          students, ranging from small food pantries to large programs and  
          services; five campuses incorporate students' needs as part of  
          student success directives and the university mission; and,  







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          students who experienced food and/or housing instability  
          reported high levels of stress and the need for single points of  
          contact.  [http://www.calstate.edu/acadaff/documents/serving  
          displacedandfoodinsecurestudetnsinthecsujanuary20163.8.16.pdf]

          It appears there is no systemwide coordinated effort to help  
          combat student food insecurities issues at the California  
          Community Colleges (CCC); however, some CCC campuses have  
          various activities in place to address the needs of the  
          students.


          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:YesLocal:   Yes


          SUPPORT:   (Verified8/2/16)


          Hunger Advocacy Network of San Diego (co-source)
          University of California Student Association (co-source)
          Western Center on Law and Poverty (co-source)
          Young Invincibles (co-source)
          Alameda County Community Food Bank
          American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
          California Association of Food Banks
          California Food Policy Advocates
          California State University
          Feeding America San Diego
          Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano
          Hunger Action Los Angeles
          National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter


          OPPOSITION:   (Verified8/2/16)


          None received

          ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  70-7, 6/2/16
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bloom,  
            Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,  
            Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle,  
            Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia,  







                                                                    AB 1747  
                                                                    Page  6


            Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray,  
            Hadley, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer,  
            Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis,  
            Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell,  
            Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark Stone,  
            Thurmond, Ting, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
          NOES:  Travis Allen, Grove, Harper, Obernolte, Olsen, Patterson,  
            Wagner
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Bigelow, Beth Gaines, Steinorth

          Prepared by:Lynn Lorber / ED. / (916) 651-4105
          8/3/16 18:49:57


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