BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1747|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
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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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Page 2
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,
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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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