BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 708
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
708 (Mendoza)
As Amended July 16, 2015
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 38-0
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Education |6-0 |O'Donnell, Chávez, | |
| | |Kim, McCarty, | |
| | |Santiago, Thurmond | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |16-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonta, | |
| | |Calderon, Chang, | |
| | |Daly, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Jones, Quirk, Rendon, | |
| | |Wagner, Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
SB 708
Page 2
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SUMMARY: Establishes requirements for school districts and
county offices of education, if they choose to provide an online
application for free or reduced-price meals. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Specifies that the governing board of a school district and
the county superintendent of schools shall make paper
applications for free or reduced-price meals available to
pupils at all times during each regular schoolday, and may
also make an application electronically available online,
provided that the online application complies with specified
criteria.
2)Specifies that if the governing board of a school district, a
county office of education, or a school food service personnel
chooses to provide access to an online application for free or
reduced-price meals, the online application shall comply with
all of the following requirements:
a) Include a link to the Internet Web site on which
translated applications are posted by the United States
Department of Agriculture, with instructions in that
language that inform the applicant how to submit the
application.
b) Require completion of only those questions that are
necessary for determining eligibility.
c) Include clear instructions for families that are
homeless or are migrants.
SB 708
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d) Comply with the privacy rights and disclosure
protections established by the federal Richard B. Russell
National School Lunch Act (Public Law 113-79) and the
federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998
(Public Law 105-277).
e) Include links to all of the following:
i) The online application to CalFresh.
ii) The online single state application for health care.
iii) The Internet Web site maintained by the State
Department of Public Health providing ZIP-Code-specific
referrals to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program
for Women, Infants and Children.
iv) The Internet Web site of a summer lunch program
authorized to participate within the city or school
district.
3)Prohibits an online application for free or reduced-price
meals to be made available online or made accessible online by
a school district, county office of education, or school food
service personnel if the online application allows for the
information provided by an applicant to be used by a private
entity for any purpose not related to the administration of a
school food program, or if the online application requires an
applicant to waive any right or to create a user account in
order to submit the application.
SB 708
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FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, potential Proposition 98(1988)/General Fund (GF)
reimbursable state mandated costs, likely minor, for school
districts and county offices of education (COEs) to provide
paper copies of free or reduced priced meal (FRPM) applications
available at all times during the regular school day. Current
law requires local education agencies (LEAs) to provide access
to FRPM applications but does not explicitly specify that
"paper" copies shall be made available. This requirement could
result in minor printing costs that may be eligible for state
reimbursement.
Unknown, likely minor, Proposition 98/GF cost pressure for
school districts and COEs to update online FRPM applications (if
they chose to provide applications in this format). Whether or
not an LEA provides applications through an online format is a
local decision and, therefore, the LEA cannot seek reimbursement
for these activities.
Unknown state and federal costs to the extent already qualified
families are connected to CalFresh, CalWORKs, Medi-Cal and the
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and
Children Program as a result of this bill.
General Fund administrative costs to the California Department
of Education (CDE), in the range of $15,000 to $17,000, to
update eligibility materials for the FRPM program to reflect the
requirements of this bill.
COMMENTS: This bill establishes requirements for school
district, county offices of education and school food service
personnel to follow if those entities choose to provide an
online application for free and reduced-price meals.
SB 708
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According to the author, child hunger can negatively impact
classroom learning and has long-term consequences to academic
outcomes and child brain development. The National School Lunch
Program (NSLP) is one of the best ways to address child hunger
during the school year. The federally funded program is guided
by state and federal law and guidance. Current state and
federal law requires federal school lunch program participating
entities to follow certain procedures and establish certain
protections, but the current statute is silent on the topic of
online applications, which several school districts are
voluntarily making available to parents. This bill seeks to
address the problem of lack of parity of rights and protections
for children whose parents are applying using online
applications and support the use of new technology to increase
access to materials translated by federal administrators and to
other online resources that can help prevent hunger and illness
among children. This bill does not require schools to provide
an online application, it only establishes basic requirements of
those online applications should the school district or school
food entity chose to make one available to parents.
Paper vs Electronic Applications: Current law requires school
districts and county offices of education to make applications
for free or reduced-price meals available to students at all
times during each regular schoolday. This bill authorizes
school districts, county offices of education and school food
service personnel to also make an electronic application
available online. This bill requires, if districts, county
offices or school food service personnel choose to offer an
electronic application, the electronic application to include
links to the following information that is not currently
required to be provided with the paper application:
1)The California Department of Public Health's Web site
providing zip code specific referrals to the Special
Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and
Children.
SB 708
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2)The Web site of a summer lunch program authorized to
participate within the city or school district.
Current law authorizes and encourages, but does not require,
paper applications to include information about Medi-Cal and
CalFresh. According to the author, current practice is to
provide clear instructions for families that are homeless or
migrant. This bill requires both paper and electronic
applications to include clear instructions for families that are
homeless or migrant, and requires electronic applications to
include links to applications for CalFresh and health care, in
addition to the information cited above.
Analysis Prepared by:
Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN:
0001464