BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  SB 1190
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 8, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                   SB 1190 (Hancock) - As Amended:  August 6, 2012 

          Policy Committee:                              HealthVote:19 - 0 


          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires the Department of Public Health (DPH) to 
          provide the Legislature with briefings twice a year on the 
          development of an electronic benefits transfer (EBT) system for 
          the California Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, 
          Infants, and Children (WIC), beginning on January 1, 2013, and 
          until the system is fully operational.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Costs associated with the reporting requirement should be minor 
          and absorbable within existing DPH resources. 

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  . The sponsor, the California WIC Association, states 
            that DPH is in the early stages of EBT implementation and this 
            bill is intended ensure that DPH is actively engaged by 
            requiring them to provide regular status updates to the 
            Legislature and interested parties on the development of the 
            system.  
             
            The author points out that the current process of using WIC 
            benefits in a paper check or voucher form is outdated, 
            cumbersome, and stigmatizing at the grocery check stand.  
            According to the author, moving to EBT will make WIC much 
            easier for participants, benefit grocers, and simplify program 
            operations while lowering costs to local agencies.  The author 
            contends that the current WIC management information system 
            (MIS) is more than adequate as a platform to generate WIC 
            benefits for an EBT system and can easily be interfaced to 








                                                                  SB 1190
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            support EBT.  
           
          2)Background  . Low-income women who are pregnant or have recently 
            given birth, infants, and children up to age five are eligible 
            for certain WIC 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. 

            Federal law requires state WIC programs to transition to an 
            electronic benefits transfer system by 2020. Under an 
            electronic benefits transfer system, information on a 
            participant's benefit package is either stored on the card or 
            in a central database. When a participant purchases eligible 
            food items, the card is swiped and the transaction is 
            approved.

            The development of a new system proceeds in steps. At each 
            step, DPH must get federal approval. First, DPH requests 
            proposals for a vendor to develop an implementation plan. DPH 
            then selects a vendor to develop the implementation plan. Once 
            the implementation plan has been approved by DPH and the 
            federal government, DPH will solicit bids and select a vendor 
            to actually develop the new system. The federal government 
            estimates that the planning process typically takes two to 
            four years and implementation takes three to eight years.

            DPH is in the early stages of the process, and is waiting for 
            federal approval of their request for proposals to develop an 
            implementation plan.


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916) 
          319-2081