BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1661
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Date of Hearing: April 9, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
K.H. "Katcho" Achadjian, Chair
AB 1661 (Bonta) - As Amended: April 1, 2014
SUBJECT : The Healthy Options for Everyone (HOPE) Act of 2014.
SUMMARY : Allows a city or county to establish by ordinance a
Healthy Options for Everyone (HOPE) Incentive Zone within its
boundaries for the purpose of increasing the availability of
fresh fruits and vegetables, and other grown foods.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Establishes the Healthy Options for Everyone (HOPE) Act of
2014.
2)Allows a city, county, or city and county, after a public
hearing, to establish by ordinance a HOPE Incentive Zone
within its boundaries for the purpose of increasing the
availability of fresh fruits and vegetables, and other grown
foods.
3)Provides that a city or county shall analyze the following
factors within a geographic area when considering whether to
establish a HOPE Incentive Zone within that area:
a) Transportation;
b) Population density;
c) Income of population;
d) Whether the area qualifies as a "food desert" by the
United States Department of Agriculture;
e) Percentage of population that participates in food
assistance programs, including but not limited to, a free
school lunch program;
f) Percentage of population with dietary-related illnesses;
and,
g) Neglected real property.
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4)Allows a city or county, after establishing a HOPE Incentive
Zone, to enact an ordinance to create incentives for small
businesses, farmers' markets, grocers, and other businesses
that provide fresh fruits and vegetables, and other grown
foods to conduct business within the zone.
5)Allows a "qualified business," for purposes of the Personal
Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law, to carryover a net
operating loss to each of the 25 taxable years following the
taxable year of the loss.
6)Defines "qualified business" to mean any trade or business
that has primarily done business within a HOPE Incentive Zone,
as specified, during the taxable year.
7)Finds and declares the following:
a) The HOPE Act of 2014 provides cities, counties, and
cities and counties with the ability to provide incentives
for businesses and individuals working with HOPE Incentive
Zones that can be tailored by local governments to fit
their area's unique needs.
b) These incentives are intended to reduce the tax burden
and costs of doing business within a HOPE Incentive Zone,
which in turn, will spur the creation of new business, or
the expansion of existing businesses, within the zone; and,
c) Incentives that will be available for individuals and
businesses working or doing business within a HOPE
Incentive Zone will include, but are not limited to, a
hiring tax credit, an expansion of the period for which a
net operating loss may be carried over, a tax credit for
low-income individuals employed within a zone, reductions
in electricity rates, assistance for developing sites
within a zone, and low-interest loans for the installation
and maintenance of electricity and water services.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires that each city and county in California must prepare
a comprehensive, long term general plan to guide its future.
2)Requires a general plan to include seven mandatory elements,
including a land use, circulation, housing, conservation, open
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space, noise, and safety.
3)Allows the general plan to include other elements or address
any other subjects which, in the judgment of the legislative
body, relate to the physical development of the county or
city.
4)Authorizes, until January 1, 2019, a county to establish, by
ordinance, an "Urban Agriculture Incentive Zone" (Zone) and
allows landowners to enter into voluntary contracts
restricting the use of the land to agricultural purposes in
exchange for reduced property tax assessments.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill is keyed fiscal.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of this bill . This bill allows a city or county to
establish by ordinance a HOPE Incentive Zone within its
boundaries for the purpose of increasing the availability of
fresh fruits and vegetables, and other grown foods, and
specifies several tax incentives for individuals and
businesses that locate in a HOPE Zone. This bill is
author-sponsored.
2)Author's statement . According to the author, "limited access
to healthy and fresh food has a negative impact on the health
outcomes of local communities. Areas with this lack of access
are known as food deserts and are typically found in
low-income communities, where the major food options include
fast food chains and corner stores stocked with processed
foods that are high in sugar and fat. Even when residents in
food deserts do manage to access supermarkets and similar
venues, many of those venues do not accept Electronic Benefit
Transfer (EBT) and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
vouchers."
3)Previous legislation . AB 551 (Ting), Chapter 406, Statutes of
2013, established the "Urban Agriculture Incentive Zones Act,"
which authorizes a city or county, after a public hearing, to
establish by ordinance a Zone within its boundaries for the
purpose of entering into voluntary enforceable contracts with
landowners for the use vacant, unimproved, or blighted lands
for small-scale production of agriculture crops and animal
husbandry. After a county adopts the ordinance, it can enter
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into a contract with a landowner to enforceably restrict the
use of land, subject to the contract, to uses consistent with
urban agriculture.
4)Incentives . This bill allows a city or county to enact an
ordinance to create incentives for small businesses, farmers'
markets, grocers, and other businesses that provide fresh
fruits and vegetables, and other grown foods to conduct
business within the Zone. The bill also contains findings and
declarations about the types of incentives that will be
available for individuals and businesses working or doing
within a Zone including a hiring tax credit, an expansion of
the period for which a net operating loss may be carried over,
a tax credit for low-income individuals employed within a
zone, reductions in electricity rates, assistance for
developing sites within a zone, and low-interest loans for the
installation and maintenance of electricity and water
services.
Right now, however, the bill only contains language that
allows for the expansion of the period for which a net
operating loss may be carried over. The Committee may wish to
ask the author to discuss plans to expand the types of
incentives in the bill and consult stakeholder groups about
what types of incentives make the most sense.
5)Arguments in support . Supporters argue that the bill
recognizes that increased availability and access to healthy
foods changes the food environment, helping to make the
healthy choice the easy choice.
6)Arguments in opposition . None on file.
7)Double-referral . This bill is double-referred to the Revenue
and Taxation Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,
AFL-CIO
California Food Policy Advocates
Opposition
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None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Debbie Michel / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958