BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair


          AB 2322 (Gatto) - California Special Supplemental Food Program 
          for Women, Infants, and Children.
          
          Amended: May 1, 2012            Policy Vote: Health 9-0
          Urgency: No                     Mandate: No
          Hearing Date: July 2, 2012      Consultant: Brendan McCarthy
          
          This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the 
          Suspense File.
          
          
          Bill Summary:  AB 2322 would require the Department of Public 
          Health to adopt regulations to specify the criteria to be used 
          when initiating a new moratorium on WIC retail food vendors.

          Fiscal Impact:  One-time costs of about $100,000 (federal funds) 
          over two years to develop regulations.

          Background:  Under current law, the Department of Public Health 
          implements the California Special Supplemental Food Program for 
          Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Under the program, 
          low-income women who are pregnant or have recently given birth, 
          infants, and children up to age five are eligible for certain 
          benefits, including supplemental foods, such as milk and fruit. 
          Program participants use coupons to purchase eligible foods at 
          retailers who accept WIC coupons. WIC is federally funded and 
          has an annual budget of about $1.5 billion. 

          In April 2011, the Department imposed a moratorium on 
          applications from new vendors to be authorized to sell food to 
          WIC participants under the program. The Department has indicated 
          that it imposed the moratorium because it was unable to 
          effectively manage the vendor caseload.

          Proposed Law:  AB 2322 would require the Department to adopt 
          regulations specifying the criteria to be used and actions to be 
          taken when initiating any future moratoria on WIC vendor 
          applications. The bill specifies issues to be addressed by the 
          regulations, such as caseload management levels, the duration of 
          a moratorium, and notice requirements.

          Related Legislation: 








          AB 2322 (Gatto)
          Page 1



              SB 1190 (Hancock) would require the Department to report on 
              the status of its efforts to transition the WIC program from 
              a paper-based system to an electronic benefits transfer 
              system. That bill is in the Assembly Appropriations 
              Committee.
              AB 2280 (Lara) would require the Department to provide 
              written notice to a vendor who has been found to overcharge 
              a nutrition coupon upon determination of an initial 
              violation,  when the violation could be used later to 
              establish a pattern to impose a sanction. That bill will be 
              heard in this committee.