BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 627|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 627
Author: Brownley (D), et al
Amended: 9/1/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 7-2, 7/8/09
AYES: Romero, Alquist, Hancock, Liu, Maldonado, Padilla,
Simitian
NOES: Huff, Wyland
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 7-3, 7/15/09
AYES: Alquist, Cedillo, DeSaulnier, Leno, Negrete McLeod,
Pavley, Wolk
NOES: Strickland, Aanestad, Cox
NO VOTE RECORDED: Maldonado
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 8-5, 8/27/09
AYES: Kehoe, Corbett, Hancock, Leno, Oropeza, Price, Wolk,
Yee
NOES: Cox, Denham, Runner, Walters, Wyland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 49-28, 6/3/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Child care: nutritional requirements
SOURCE : California Food Policy Advocates
DIGEST : This bill requires the Superintendent of Public
Instruction to establish a 12 month pilot program in child
care centers and day care homes to implement enhanced
CONTINUED
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nutrition and physical activity standards in exchange for a
higher state meal reimbursement. The California Department
of Education (CDE) would be authorized to convene a
stakeholder group to advise the design, implementation, and
evaluation of the program. The pilot would be implemented
only to the extent that non-General Fund funding sources
are available. The CDE would contract with an independent
agency to evaluate the implementation and outcomes of the
pilot and submit a report to the Legislature. The
evaluation would consider the health outcomes, changes in
food and beverages provided, and the fiscal impact of
implementation. This bill sunsets January 1, 2015.
ANALYSIS : Existing law states that the State Department
of Education administers the federal the Child and Adult
Care Food Program to provide subsidized meals and snacks
for these populations with the purpose of ensuring adequate
nutrition while in care. Existing law states, under the
California Child Day Care Facilities Act, that the state
Department of Social Services licenses and regulates child
day care facilities, and that persons or organizations
offering child day care must comply with specified
licensure requirements. Existing law also defines a child
day care facility as a facility that provides non-medical,
supervisory care to children under 18 years of age. These
facilities include: day care centers, employer-sponsored
child care centers, and family day care homes.
The federal government provides a maximum of $1.17 for
breakfast, $2.18 for lunch, and $0.65 for snacks.
California provides $0.16 for breakfast and $0.16 for lunch
to licensed child care centers, and $0.16 for 75 percent of
the breakfast and lunches served to children enrolled in
licensed child care homes.
There are currently fifteen, 150 licensed center-based
sites and 38,867 licensed child care homes in California,
with capacity for 1.2 million children from birth to 12
years of age. The federal Child and Adult Care Food
Program serves over 350,000 children in California.
In August 2007, the CDE and the Health and Human Services
Agency convened a stakeholder group to make key
recommendations for reducing childhood overweight/obesity
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in child care settings. One recommendation was to
establish nutrition standards for licensed child care
providers. In August 2008, the CDE, in coordination with
the Department of Public Health, convened an advisory
committee to develop nutrition standards in child care.
The nutrition standards established by this bill are
consistent with the recommendations of this group.
Pilot program
This bill:
1.Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI)
to establish a pilot program of at least 12 months in
duration, in which licensed child care providers selected
by the SPI implement specified nutrition and physical
activity standards in exchange for a higher state meal
reimbursement rate.
2.Requires the CDE to design and implement the pilot
program, and authorizes the CDE to convene a stakeholder
group for advice on the design, implementation and
evaluation.
3.Requires the CDE to contract with an independent agency
to evaluate the implementation and outcomes of the pilot
program. The evaluation must be completed and submitted
to both the Senate and Assembly Education Committees
within one year of the conclusion of the pilot program
(it is unknown when the pilot program will conclude
because this bill is contingent upon a determination by
the SPI that non-General Fund moneys are available for
the purposes of this bill). This bill specifies
information that must be included in the evaluation.
4.Requires the pilot program to be established only if the
SPI determines that non-General Fund funding sources,
including but not limited to, federal funding or grant
sources, are available to implement the pilot program.
The SPI is required to post a declaration of the
availability of such funds on the California Department
of Education's website.
5.Sunsets the pilot program on January 1, 2015.
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FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to information provided by CDE, total costs for
the pilot would be approximately $2.9 million. CDE's
assumptions include an increase in the meal reimbursement
rate of $0.12 for 13,500 preschoolers over an 18 month
period, and additional costs related to training,
administration, and the evaluation. The bill specifies
this pilot will only be implemented when the SPI determines
there are sufficient non-General Fund sources available.
Discussions with CDE indicate that several funding sources
have already been identified.
Currently, the state reimbursement rate per meal is $0.16.
To the extent new requirements are added as a result of
this bill (particularly due to the results of the pilot
evaluation), there would be cost pressures, likely in the
millions, to increase the reimbursement rate.
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/1/09)
California Food Policy Advocates (source)
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Heart Association
California Association for the Education of Young Children
California Center for Public Health Advocacy
California Hunger Action Coalition
California State PTA
California Teachers Association
California WIC Coalition
Child Care Food Program Roundtable
Child Nutrition Program of Southern California
City and County of San Francisco
Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano
FRAMAX
Fresno Metro Ministry
Latino Coalition for a Healthy California
Public Health Foundation Enterprise WIC Program
Public Health Institute
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
Urban and Environmental Policy Institute, Center for Food
and Justice
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OPPOSITION : (Verified 9/1/09)
Department of Finance
Grocery Manufacturers Association (unless amended)
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
by establishing a pilot project to determine how higher
nutritional standards can best be implemented in child care
settings, and this bill is the first step toward putting
good eating habits into practice that will decrease the
likelihood of childhood obesity and prevent adverse health
conditions.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : According to the Department of
Finance, "Although this bill would not result in new costs
to the state, it is likely to create cost pressure for the
state to add Proposition 98 General Fund resources to the
Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). Currently, the
state provides approximately $0.16 per meal, which
supplements various per-meal rates provided by the federal
CACFP. Because the bill is likely to result in higher
commodity costs for centers and providers, it is logical to
assume that centers and providers would expect to see a
corresponding increase in funding from the state."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Blumenfield, Brownley,
Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro,
Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Eng, Evans, Feuer,
Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Hall, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jones, Krekorian, Lieu,
Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, John A.
Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas,
Saldana, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres,
Torrico, Bass
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Conway,
Cook, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Fletcher, Fuller, Gaines,
Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey, Jeffries, Knight,
Logue, Miller, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Silva, Smyth,
Audra Strickland, Tran, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bill Berryhill, Block, Yamada
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DLW:nl 9/1/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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