BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2720
Author: John A. Perez (D), et al
Amended: 8/18/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 6-2, 6/30/10
AYES: Alquist, Cedillo, Leno, Negrete McLeod, Pavley,
Romero
NOES: Strickland, Aanestad
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cox
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-4, 8/12/10
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Corbett, Leno, Price, Wolk, Yee
NOES: Ashburn, Emmerson, Walters, Wyland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 53-22, 6/2/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Public health: food access
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill creates the California Healthy Food
Financing Initiative, and requires, by July 1, 2011, the
Department of Food and Agriculture, in consultation with
the State Department of Public Health and the State
Department of Social Services, to prepare recommendations
to be presented upon request to the Legislature, regarding
actions that need to be taken to promote food access in the
state. It requires the Department of Food and Agriculture
to coordinate efforts to implement the initiative and
CONTINUED
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maximize the funding opportunities provided by the federal
2010 Healthy Food Financing Initiative.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law
1. Existing law requires, until January 1, 2013, the
Department of Public Health (DPH) in conjunction with
the Department of Food and Agriculture, to develop a
"Healthy Food Purchase" pilot program, in no more than
seven counties, to increase the sale and purchase of
fresh fruits and vegetables in low-income communities,
as specified. The department must also develop a
process for evaluating the effectiveness of the pilot,
and contract with an independent external evaluator to
conduct the evaluation.
2. Requires the department to use specific criteria for
choosing the counties to be considered in the pilot
program.
3. Specifies that the department shall apply for available
federal matching funds to support the pilot, and that no
General Fund monies shall be used to fund the program.
This bill:
1. Creates the California Healthy Food Financing
Initiative.
2. Requires, by July 1, 2011, the Department of Food and
Agriculture, in consultation with the State Department
of Public Health and the State Department of Social
Services, to prepare recommendations to be presented
upon request to the Legislature, regarding actions that
need to be taken to promote food access in the state.
3. Requires the Department of Food and Agriculture to
coordinate efforts to implement the initiative and
maximize the funding opportunities provided by the
federal 2010 Healthy Food Financing Initiative.
4. Creates the California Healthy Foods Financing
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Initiative Fund in the State Treasury, to be comprised
of federal, state, and private funds for the purpose of
expanding access to healthy foods in underserved
communities and, to the extent practicable, to leverage
other funding, as specified.
5. Is funded only to the extent that federal funds are made
available, and remains in effect until January 1, 2014.
Background
A food desert is a geographic area with limited access to
affordable, quality, and nutritious foods. The 2008 Farm
Bill required the United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA) to study food deserts. Findings from that study
include: (1) of all U.S. households, 2.3 million (2.2
percent), live more than a mile from a supermarket and do
not have access to a vehicle. An additional 3.4 million
households (3.2 percent) live between one-half to 1 mile
from a supermarket and do not have access to a vehicle, (2)
area-based measures of access show that 23.5 million people
live in low-income areas (areas where more than 40 percent
of the population has an income at or below 200 percent of
federal poverty thresholds) that are more than 1 mile from
a supermarket or large grocery store. However, not all of
these 23.5 million people have low incomes. If estimates
are restricted to consider only low-income people in
low-income areas, then 11.5 million people, (4.1 percent of
the U.S. population) live in low-income areas more than 1
mile from a supermarket, and (3) data on time use and
travel mode show that people living in low-income areas
with limited access spend significantly more time (19.5
minutes) traveling to a grocery store than the national
average (15 minutes). However, 93 percent of those who live
in low-income areas with limited access traveled to the
grocery store in a vehicle they or another household member
drove.
A subset of food deserts are areas increasingly referred to
as "food swamps." A food swamp is a defined geographic
area where the overabundance of high-energy foods (for
example, caloric snacks sold at convenience stores or high
fat, high caloric foods sold at fast food outlets)
overwhelms the healthy food options.
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Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) . In February of
2010, the Obama Administration (Administration) released
details of HFFI costing over $400 million, which will help
bring grocery stores and other healthy food retailers to
underserved urban and rural communities across the nation.
The HFFI is a partnership between the federal Departments
of the Treasury, Agriculture, and Health and Human
Services. HFFI will promote a range of interventions that
expand access to nutritious foods, including developing and
equipping grocery stores and other small businesses and
retailers selling healthy food in communities that
currently lack these options. Residents of these
communities, which are sometimes called food deserts, and
are often found in economically distressed areas, are
typically served by fast food restaurants and convenience
stores that offer little or no fresh produce. Lack of
healthy, affordable food options can lead to higher levels
of obesity and other diet-related diseases, such as
diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
Through this new multi-year HFFI, and by engaging with the
private sector, the Administration intends to work toward
eliminating food deserts across the country within seven
years. The first year of funding proposes to leverage
enough investments to begin expanding healthy foods options
into as many as one-fifth of the nation's food deserts, and
create thousands of jobs in urban and rural communities
across the nation.
The HFFI appears to be modeled after the Pennsylvania Fresh
Food Financing Initiative (FFFI) that the Pennsylvania
Legislature created in 2006. FFFI is an innovative program
that increases the number of supermarkets and grocery
stores in underserved communities across the State of
Pennsylvania. Developed as a public-private partnership,
FFFI serves the financing needs of operators located or
locating in communities where infrastructure costs and
credit needs are not met by conventional financial
institutions to increase the availability of fresh food in
low-income neighborhoods. FFFI uses market analysis,
leveraged capital, and public policy to stimulate
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supermarket development. Investing in quality food markets
in underserved communities directly benefits low- and
moderate-income communities.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee analysis:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12
2012-13 Fund
HFFI federal grant fund
likely in the millions of dollars
Federal/
expenditures, potential
General
state-match and continuing
funding for projects pressure
Healthy Food Purchase
likely in the millions of dollars
Federal
Program, program grant
awards
Report recommendations cost
pressure, likely in General
the millions of dollars
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles
Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Coto, Davis, De La
Torre, De Leon, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher,
Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Galgiani, Hall, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jones, Bonnie Lowenthal,
Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino,
Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson,
Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Yamada, John A. Perez
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Blakeslee, DeVore,
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Gaines, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey, Jeffries,
Knight, Logue, Miller, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Norby,
Silva, Smyth, Tran, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Tom Berryhill, Cook, Lieu, Audra
Strickland, Vacancy
CTW:do 8/18/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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