BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2322
Page 1
( Without Reference to File )
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 2322 (Gatto)
As Amended August 22, 2012
2/3 vote. Urgency
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(May 25, 2012) |SENATE: |38-0 |(August 30, |
| | | | | |2012) |
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(vote not relevant)
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|COMMITTEE VOTE: |16-0 |(August 31, 2012) |RECOMMENDATION: |concur |
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Original Committee Reference: HEALTH
SUMMARY : Requires the Department of Public Health (DPH) to adopt
regulations to specify the criteria to be used and actions to be
taken when initiating a moratorium on new retail food vendor
location applications for the California Special Supplemental Food
Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Allows DPH certain
exemptions to the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) to timely
respond to any changes to federal law and guidelines.
The Senate amendments :
1)Allow DPH to adopt mandatory federal requirements and guidelines
pursuant to the WIC program by bulletin or similar instruction,
without being subject to state administrative regulations and
rulemaking requirements.
2)Exclude moratoriums required by federal directive from the
provisions in this bill.
3)Require DPH to establish requirements for:
a) Peer groups and a corresponding reimbursement system;
b) Vendor authorization criteria; and,
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c) WIC authorized foods.
4)Require DPH to establish the requirements in 3) above using
bulletins or similar notices, and to provide notice to, and
consult with, stakeholders and other specified entities
electronically and on the DPH Web site. Require the notice to
include the date of a consultation meeting with a stakeholder
working group, as described.
5)Specify that DPH will receive comments on the requirements in 3)
above for a 20-day period when the notice is released. Require
DPH to consider the submitted comments and take final action
within 120 days from the last day to accept comments, or 120 days
from the conclusion of the stakeholder consultation, whichever is
later, unless DPH withdraws the action. Allow DPH to withdraw
the proposed action at any time by notification on its Web site
or electronic notification.
6)Require DPH to provide at least 30 days advance notice of the
final action. Require DPH to develop a process to collect
stakeholder feedback regarding the impact of the final action.
7)Make other technical and conforming changes.
8)Add an urgency clause to ensure that the provisions of this bill
go into immediate effect upon enactment.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes WIC, under the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA), which provides grants to states for
supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition
education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and
non-breastfeeding postpartum women and for infants and children
up to age five who are found to be at nutritional risk.
Establishes WIC in California, administered by DPH, for these
purposes.
2)Allows DPH to authorize retail food vendors to participate in the
WIC program. Requires DPH to authorize an appropriate number and
distribution of food vendors in order to ensure adequate
participant convenience and access and to ensure that state or
local officials can effectively manage review of authorized food
vendors in their jurisdictions. Requires DPH to establish
criteria to limit the number of retail food vendors with which
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DPH enters into vendor agreements.
3)Allows, under regulation, any retail outlet meeting certain
requirements to apply to become an authorized food vendor and
describes the criteria used to select such vendors.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill required DPH to adopt
regulations for WIC and specified criteria to be used when
initiating a moratorium on authorizations of new WIC retail food
vendor location applications. Specifically this bill :
1)Required DPH to adopt regulations to specify the criteria to be
used and actions to be taken when initiating a moratorium on new
WIC program retail food vendor location applications. The
regulations must:
a) Define an effective caseload management level;
b) Identify the maximum duration of a moratorium;
c) Require DPH to process applications during the moratorium
if DPH was notified of the vendors' intent prior to the
moratorium; and,
d) Require DPH to provide retail food vendors with a minimum
of 30 days' notice prior to the effective date of, or
extension of, a moratorium.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill, as amended, has not been analyzed by a
fiscal committee.
COMMENTS : The author maintains grocers have made strong efforts at
opening stores, in both rural and urban communities to provide
access to healthy affordable food. The author argues that a grocer
will often make sure that there are no moratoriums or delays in
obtaining the appropriate WIC program retail food vendor location
authorizations before purchasing a new property. According to the
author, when a moratorium is enacted grocers are less likely to
expand operations into communities who may need these services
most. The author indicates that, currently, there are no rules or
regulations outlining how much notice DPH must provide WIC program
retail food vendors prior to enacting a moratorium, how long a
moratorium will be in place, or the actions that will be taken to
address the problem for which the moratorium was enacted. This
lack of information and uncertainty makes it challenging for
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grocers to plan and serve all members of their community. This
bill, the author maintains, will provide the needed transparency to
stakeholders regarding moratoriums on the WIC program.
According to the author, this bill also protects future WIC program
funding by enabling the state to maintain timely compliance with
federal rules and regulations in the form of USDA guidance letters,
memorandums, and directives. The author maintains that this bill
bridges the gap between immediate federal changes that would be
required at the state level by creating a mechanism for proper
statutory implementation. The author also asserts this bill
implements a process that fully involves stakeholders to quickly
address WIC program changes regarding cost containment, vendor
criteria, or changes to WIC program authorized foods in order to
ensure compliance with USDA rules and regulations at all times.
The Legislature has afforded other state departments the authority
to be exempted from the APA and to implement policies through
all-county letters or by similar instruction until regulations are
adopted. For example, annually the federal government establishes,
amends, and eliminates procedure codes for Medi-Cal. The
Department of Health Care Services has the authority to implement
an expedited process in order to respond to these federal changes
in a timely manner. The Department of Social Services has also
used an expedited process to implement, among other things,
eligibility requirements for the California Work Opportunities and
Responsibility to Kids program (commonly known as CalWORKS).
Analysis Prepared by : Tanya Robinson-Taylor / HEALTH / (916)
319-2097
FN: 0005881