BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2635 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 13, 2016 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE Bill Dodd, Chair AB 2635 (Committee on Agriculture) - As Introduced February 19, 2016 SUBJECT: Public health: food access. SUMMARY: This bill extends the California Healthy Food Financing Initiative (CHFFI) to July 1, 2023. CHFFI currently will cease operation as of July 1, 2017. EXISTING LAW: 1)Creates CHFFI. 2)Establishes the CHFFI Council (Council) and requires the Council to implement the initiative. 3)Allows the Secretary of the Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to establish an advisory group. 4)Creates the CHFFI Fund in the State Treasury, comprised of federal, state, philanthropic, and private funds, for the purpose of expanding access to healthy foods in underserved communities and, to the extent practicable, to leverage other AB 2635 Page 2 funding. FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. COMMENTS: Although there are several definitions for the term "food desert" there is a common theme: a large geographic area with no or distant access to affordable, quality, and healthy foods. Food deserts exist in both urban and rural communities throughout California. Residents in food desert areas do not have access to a selection of healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables or dairy products. As a result, research shows that residents of these geographic areas generally have higher incidences of certain types of diseases, including diabetes, cancer, obesity, heart disease, and premature death. The Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) was included in President Obama's FY 2011 budget and FY 2012 budget proposal. The HFFI is a partnership between the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and Treasury, to invest $340 million nationwide with the goal of eliminating food deserts across the country within seven years through innovative financing, grants and private sector engagement. AB 2635 Page 3 CHFFI is intended to increase access to healthy and nutritious foods. The law is mirrored after successful HFFI Programs in the states of Pennsylvania and New York and addresses the issue by encouraging the active pursuit of opportunities to increase the number of grocery stores, farm stands, farmers' markets, direct farm to institutions and consumer markets, and community gardens in underserved urban and rural communities. CDFA published Improving Food Access in California in 2012 which made recommendations to improve food access that fit broadly into four categories and rely heavily upon resources and capabilities that already exist here in California or are obtainable at the federal level: 1)Improving the Distribution of Fresh Produce 2)Expanding Retail Options for Healthy Food 3)Helping Low-Income Consumers Purchase Food 4)Supporting Nutritious School Meals To date the State has not appropriated any funds to CHHFFI. For the program to have a significant impact it will need state funding in the future. CHFFI has not yet had the ability to achieve its goals. By extending CHFFI, the program may be able to impact food access issues. RELATED LEGISLATION: AB 2635 Page 4 AB 38 (Perez) of 2013 would have created the Office of Farm to Fork (OF2F) within CDFA to work with various groups and organizations involved in promoting food access, to increase the amount of agricultural products available to schools and underserved communities in the state. AB 38 died in the Assembly Appropriations committee. AB 224 (Gordon), Chapter 404, Statutes of 2013, created definitions dealing with requirements for Consumer Supported Agriculture and authorized CDFA to establish fees, not to exceed $100, to administer this new program as specified. AB 996 (Dickinson) of 2013 would have recast and expanded Certified Farmers' Market laws, requirements, and fees; and, increased penalties for violations to prevent fraud. AB 996 died in the Assembly Appropriations Committee AB 1871 (Dickinson), Chapter 579, Statutes of 2014, established a specific inspection and enforcement fee, increased the amount of the daily stall fee, and broadened the pool of payers to include those that participate in adjacent non-agricultural markets. AB 2635 Page 5 AB 1990 (Gordon), Chapter 580, Statutes of 2014, created definitions for "community food producer" (CFP), as specified, in order to establish a CFP as an "approved [food] source" to sell or provide specified food products directly to the public and other specified users; and, provided for enforcement and due process procedures. AB 2385 (Ting) of 2014 would have created the Market Match Nutrition Incentive Program (MMNIP) for encouraging the purchase and consumption of fresh California fruits, nuts, and vegetables by directly linking producers with certain benefit recipients; created the MMNIP account within CDFA to collect funds from the federal Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentives Grant Program (a part of the federal Agricultural Act of 2014) and provided grants under MMNIP. AB 2385 died in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. AB 2413 (Perez), Chapter 583, Statutes of 2014, created the OF2F within CDFA, both 1) to work with various entities involved in promoting food access, and 2) to increase the amount of agricultural products available to schools and underserved communities in the state of California. AB 2635 Page 6 AB 2602 (Eggman) of 2014, would have established a farm to school program with the goal of increasing access to food grown by local farmers going to school lunches. AB 2602 died in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. AB 1321 (Ting), Chapter 442, Statutes of 2015, established the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant (NIMG) Program in the OF2F, created a NIMG account and required OF2F to establish minimum standards, funding schedules and grant procedures for the NIMG program. This bill directs OF2F to solicit grant proposals, score, and award grant funds as specified, and established standards, funding schedules, and procedures for awarding grants in consultation with the United States Department of Agriculture. This bill also established standards for prioritizing grants within the state. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION: Support California Food Policy Advocates Opposition AB 2635 Page 7 None on file. Analysis Prepared by:Victor Francovich / AGRI. / (916) 319-2084