BILL NUMBER: SB 1190 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 29, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 29, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator Hancock
(Coauthor: Senator Pavley)
FEBRUARY 22, 2012
An act to amend Sections 123302 and 123320
add and repeal Section 123303 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to maternal and child health.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1190, as amended, 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 and
additionally would require the department to report to the
Legislature regarding which electronic card option the state will use
in implementing these provisions, as specified.
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 require the department to provide to the
appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature, the
Legislative Analyst's Office, and the office of the State Chief
Information Officer quarterly briefings, within 30 days of the close
of each quarter, with the first quarter commencing on January 1,
2013, on the development of the EBT system until the system is fully
operational. This bill would repeal those provisions on January 1,
2023.
This bill would delete the requirements that the department
develop the feasibility plan and report its findings. This bill would
require the department to design, implement, and maintain an EBT
system for WIC by January 1, 2015, 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 Public Health 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 January 1, 2015 as
soon as feasible .
SEC. 2. Section 123303 is added to the
Health and Safety Code , to read:
123303. (a) The department shall provide to the appropriate
fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature, the Legislative
Analyst's Office, and the office of the State Chief Information
Officer quarterly briefings on the development of the electronic
benefits transfer (EBT) system for the California Special
Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children, pursuant
to Section 123302. These quarterly briefings shall be provided within
30 days of the close of each quarter, with the first quarter
commencing January 1, 2013, and shall continue until the EBT system
is fully operational.
(b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2023, and as of that date, is repealed.
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 shall design, implement, and maintain an electronic
benefits transfer (EBT) system for the California Special
Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children by January
1, 2015. 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 the EBT system required by
this section until 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.
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 July 1, 2013, report to the
Legislature regarding the feasibility and costs of providing the
information in this form, and regarding which electronic card option
the state will use pursuant to Section 123302. This subdivision shall
be implemented only to the extent that funds for its purposes are
appropriated in the annual Budget Act or another statute.