BILL NUMBER: SB 1190	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Hancock
   (Coauthor: Senator Pavley)

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2012

   An act to amend Sections 123302 and 123320 of the Health and
Safety Code, relating to maternal and child health.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1190, as introduced, Hancock. Women, infants, and children's
nutrition.
   Existing law, the California Special Supplemental Food Program for
Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), under the administration of the
State Department of Public Health, provides for the issuance of
nutrition coupons, as defined, to certain low-income women, infants,
and children who have been determined to be at nutritional risk.
Under existing law, the department is required to include specified
information on the nutrition coupons and, to the extent feasible,
provide the information in a form that may be read by optical
scanning technology readily available to vendors. Existing law
requires the department to report to the Legislature by March 15,
2002, on the feasibility and costs of providing the information in
that form.
   This bill would extend that deadline to July 1, 2013.
   Existing law authorizes the department to design, implement, and
fund an electronic benefits transfer (EBT) system for WIC. Existing
law requires the department to develop a plan to determine the
feasibility of implementing an EBT system for WIC by January 1, 2003,
and to report its findings to the Legislature by July 1, 2003.
   This bill would delete the provision requiring the department to
develop the feasibility plan and delete the reporting requirement.
This bill would require the department to design, implement, and
maintain an EBT system for WIC by January 1, 2014, subject to funding
being provided in the annual budget act.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) An electronic benefits transfer (EBT) system for the
California Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants,
and Children (WIC) has not yet been implemented in California.
   (b) Existing law directed the State Department of Health Services
to develop a plan to determine the feasibility of implementing an EBT
system for WIC by January 1, 2003.
   (c) The current paper check system is cumbersome, outdated,
stigmatizing for participants at the checkstand, and costly to
operate.
   (d) Several other states, including Texas, Michigan, Nevada, and
New Mexico, have fully implemented an EBT system for WIC, while
Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, and Arkansas are in the pilot phase of
implementing an EBT system for WIC.
   (e) Accordingly, it is the intent of the Legislature to implement
an EBT system for WIC by 2014.
  SEC. 2.  Section 123302 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
   123302.  (a) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
department  may   shall  design, implement,
and  fund   maintain  an electronic
benefits transfer (EBT) system for the California Special
Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children  by
January 1, 2014  . Sections 10066, 10067, and 10068 of, and
subdivision (j) of Section 10072 of, the Welfare and Institutions
Code, shall apply to the administration of this section.
   (2) The department may not implement  any  
the  EBT system  authorized   required
 by this section until  the department completes a
feasibility study, and  funding for the system is provided
in the annual Budget Act.
   (b) The department shall seek the advice of the Electronic
Benefits Transfer Committee, created by Section 10067 of the Welfare
and Institutions Code, in implementing this section, and shall obtain
the approval of the United States Department of Agriculture, which
is the federal governing agency, prior to the establishment of any
EBT system. 
   (c)  The department shall develop a plan to determine the
feasibility of implementing an EBT system for the California Special
Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children by January
1, 2003, and shall report its findings to the Legislature by July 1,
2003. 
  SEC. 3.  Section 123320 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
   123320.  (a) The department shall inform the retail food vendors
of, and include in the written agreement with the vendors, guidelines
consistent with Section 123315, and shall print on each coupon the
following:
   (1) Specific supplemental foods and the quantities thereof for
which the coupon may be redeemed.
   (2) The period of validity of the nutrition coupon.
   (3) The maximum value for which the nutrition coupon may be
redeemed.
   (b) To the extent feasible, the information required pursuant to
subdivision (a) shall be provided in a form that may be read by
optical scanning technology readily available to vendors. The
department shall, no later than  March 15, 2002 
 July 1, 2013  , report to the Legislature on the
feasibility and costs of providing the information in this form. This
subdivision shall be implemented only to the extent that funds for
its purposes are appropriated in the annual Budget Act or another
statute.