BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                    AB 2635


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          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  








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            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.   













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          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:









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          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.  









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          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. 













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          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









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          None on file.




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