Bill Text: CA AB1961 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: End Hunger in California Act of 2024.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-25 - From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (April 24). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. [AB1961 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB1961-Amended.html
|
Amended
IN
Assembly
March 21, 2024 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 1961
| Introduced by Assembly Member Wicks |
January 29, 2024 |
An act to add Chapter 9.6 (commencing with Section 18800) to Part 6 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to food access.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1961, as amended, Wicks.
Food access: strategic plan. End Hunger in California Act of 2024.
Existing law establishes the Strategic Growth Council in state government consisting of various state agency heads and 3 public members. Existing law requires the council to identify and review activities and funding programs of state agencies that may be coordinated to improve air and water quality, improve natural resource protection, increase the availability of affordable housing, improve transportation, meet greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals, encourage sustainable land use planning, and revitalize urban and community centers in a sustainable manner. Existing law requires the council to manage and award grants and loans to support the planning and development of sustainable communities.
Under
existing law, the policy of the state is that every human being has the right to access sufficient, affordable, and healthy food. Existing law establishes various food assistance programs, including, among others, the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known in California as CalFresh, under which supplemental nutrition assistance benefits allocated to the state by the federal government are distributed to eligible individuals by each county.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation requiring the State of California to develop a strategic master plan to end hunger in California.
This bill would require the Strategic Growth Council, in
consultation with specified entities, to appoint and convene the End Hunger in California Master Plan Task Force to make recommendations for future comprehensive strategies aimed at addressing access to healthy and culturally relevant food for all Californians. The bill would require the task force to meet at least quarterly and to be composed of up to 40 members, from specified agencies and with specified knowledge and expertise in various food-related subject matters. The bill would authorize the council, subject to an appropriation from the Legislature for this purpose, to provide members with a reasonable per diem allowance for each day of attendance and reimbursement for actual and necessary travel expenses incurred in connection with their official duties involving the task force. The bill would also authorize the task force to form ad hoc advisory committees to learn more about specific issues regarding recommending future comprehensive strategies aimed at addressing access to healthy and culturally
relevant food.
The bill would require the council to serve as the lead agency for developing the End Hunger in California Master Plan and assist the task force in carrying out its duties. The bill would authorize the council to use existing resources and to accept and expend nongovernmental funds for its work with the task force.
The bill would require the plan to be distributed to the Legislature no later than January 1, 2026, and to include specified actions, among others, identification of barriers to bringing retailers to specific locations, inclusion of a strategy to maximize eligible individuals’ participation in specified federal and state nutritional programs, identification and facilitation of
stakeholder engagement, and analysis of state programs currently investing in regional food systems. The bill would make related findings and declarations.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee:Bill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the End Hunger in California Act of 2024.SEC. 2.
The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:(a) More than one in five Californians suffer from food insecurity.
(b) As lack of access to healthful food equates to ill health, poor educational outcomes, and poverty, guaranteeing access to healthy, culturally relevant food will ensure that fewer Californians will require the aid of California’s safety net programs, saving both lives and substantial taxpayer funds. For example, health care costs associated with food
insecurity cost California more than $7,000,000,000 annually, more than any other state in the United States.
(c) Research in child brain development has shown that even one experience of hunger as a child can impact a person’s health and mental well-being throughout the rest of their life. Research has similarly demonstrated the long-term academic and economic consequences of hunger in limiting a person’s life chances.
(d) Hunger is exacerbated by racial and economic inequities, with 40 percent of Black households and 30 percent of Latino households in California experiencing hunger. In the County of Los Angeles alone, 23 percent of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and other Pacific Islander residents live in food-insecure households. Additionally, a staggering 92 percent of Native American households suffer from food insecurity.
(e) Food workers face higher levels of food insecurity than the rest of the United States workforce. During the COVID-19 pandemic, 72 percent of agricultural workers reported trouble paying for food. In a 2021 survey of almost 120 small farmers across the state, 49 percent of farmers who identified as Black, Indigenous, and people of color experienced food insecurity, needing food from a food bank or CalFresh benefits. The majority of these farmworkers, food industry workers, and food service providers are people of color, undocumented, or live in mixed immigration status families, with one-fifth of farmers in California identifying as Black, Indigenous, and people of color.
(f) California produces more than enough food in the state. Over one-third of the vegetables and
two-thirds of the fruits and nuts grown in the United States come from California. Hunger in California is, in substantial part, a failure of inequitable distribution and access—physical, economic, and cultural—to food due to historic racism.
(g) History-based economic disadvantages endured by communities of color are those that cause food insecurity and include, but are not limited to, lower wages, lack of inherited wealth, underprivileged neighborhoods, lack of mobility, and, therefore, the inability to afford to shop comparatively.
(h) Aligning food system workers’ rights, climate goals, and food access to address food insecurity are necessary.
(i) High-cost and economically disadvantaged congested areas of the state also experience limited access to food and often provide few opportunities for food businesses to relocate to food-insecure areas.
(j) In 2023, California declared food a human right, but the state has no plan for realizing this right. Just as California has deeply committed itself to providing health care, drinking water, and educational access, it must also comparably ensure access to adequate, nutritious, sustainably grown food in all communities across the state.
(k) California must support a process by which food system
stakeholders will be engaged and collaborate at the local, regional, and state levels, and in partnerships with tribal governments, to remove barriers to adequate, nutritious, culturally appropriate food access and ensure that a vibrant and sustainable food system is available across all communities.
SEC. 3.
Chapter 9.6 (commencing with Section 18800) is added to Part 6 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:CHAPTER 9.6. End Hunger in California Master Plan
18800.
(a) The Strategic Growth Council, in consultation with the State Department of Public Health, State Department of Education, Department of Food and Agriculture, State Department of Social Services, Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, and Labor and Workforce Development Agency shall appoint and convene the End Hunger in California Master Plan Task Force to, in further consultation with the stakeholders listed in subdivision (b), make recommendations for future comprehensive strategies aimed at addressing access to healthy and culturally relevant food for all Californians.(b) The task force shall be composed of up to 40 members and shall include all of the following:
(1) Up to two representatives from the State Department of Public Health.
(2) Up to two representatives from the State Department of Education.
(3) Up to two representatives from the Department of Food and Agriculture, including from the Office of Farm to Fork.
(4) Up to two representatives from the State Department of Social Services.
(5) Up to two representatives from the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development.
(6) Up to two representatives from the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, including from the California Workforce Development Board.
(7) At least four representatives of labor
organizations or community-based organizations representing workers in food-related areas, including, but not limited to, agriculture, food packaging, and grocery.
(8) At least four representatives of state and local community nonprofit organizations that work with and advocate for food access, including individuals with expertise in urban agriculture, farmers markets, food recovery, school food, and regional food systems.
(9) At least three representatives from antihunger organizations.
(10) At least one representative with expertise in issues affecting socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers as defined in Section 512 of the Food and Agricultural Code.
(11) At least one representative from a small or medium-sized certified organic farm according to
the federal Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. Sec. 6501 et seq.)
(12) At least two representatives of Native American, tribal, or indigenous groups.
(13) Up to one grocery investor.
(14) Up to two grocery retailers representing an independent grocery store and a chain grocery store.
(15) Up to one representative with familiarity in real estate and land procurement related to the food sector.
(16) Up to two representatives with expertise in food transportation and warehousing.
(17) Up to two researchers or economists with subject matter expertise in capital markets, market consolidation, or food access.
(18) Up to one representative representing an urban county or city.
(19) Up to one representative representing a suburban county or city.
(20) Up to one representative representing a rural county or city.
(c) (1) To ensure equitable participation, the Strategic Growth Council may provide members of the task force with a reasonable per diem allowance as specified in Section 11564.5 of the Government Code, or at a higher rate that may be established by the council, for each day of attendance at a noticed meeting of the task force. The council may also reimburse members of the task force for actual and necessary travel expenses incurred in connection with their official duties.
(2) Implementation of this subdivision shall be subject to an appropriation by the Legislature for the purpose of this subdivision.
(d) The task force shall meet at least quarterly and may form ad hoc advisory committees to learn more about specific issues regarding future comprehensive strategies aimed at addressing access to healthy and culturally relevant food for all Californians.
(e) The Strategic Growth Council, as the convener and chair of the task force, shall serve as the lead agency for developing the End Hunger in California Master Plan and assist the task force in carrying out its duties. The council may use its existing resources to absorb costs for implementing this chapter. Notwithstanding any other law, the council may accept and expend funds from nongovernmental sources for its work with the task force.
(f) The plan shall be distributed to the Legislature no later than January 1, 2026, in accordance with Section 9795 of the Government Code, and be made publicly available on the Strategic Growth Council’s internet website. The plan shall, at a minimum, do all of the following:
(1) Determine if the United States Department of Agriculture’s definition of food deserts is adequate for California, and, if not, develop an appropriate definition for California communities.
(2) Map all food deserts in California.
(3) Identify barriers to bringing retailers and other sellers to specific locations, such as food deserts. These barriers may include, but are not limited to, rural terrain, lack of infrastructure, zoning and other local ordinances, lack of capital, labor
shortages, market consolidation, restrictive covenants, real estate costs, requirements imposed by local ordinances or state law, lack of investments in food hubs and cooperatives, limitations of the public transportation system, transportation costs for consumers, and the expense of distributing food, including storage, warehousing, and fuel and utility costs.
(4) Include a strategy to fully maximize eligible Californians’ participation in, and benefits received through, federal nutrition programs, including, but not limited to, school meals, CalFresh, the federal Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children, the Women, Infants, and Children Program, the federal Child and Adult Care Food Program, and federal commodities programs supporting food banks, including the federal Emergency Food Assistance Program and the federal Commodity Supplemental Food Program, and identify where state programs are needed to fill gaps in the federal food
safety net to ensure food security for every Californian, including tribal communities.
(5) Identify and facilitate stakeholder engagement, including representatives from impacted communities.
(6) Make recommendations for improving food access, including funding alternative food retail models, such as those that support local food producers or those operated or subsidized by for-profit organizations, nonprofit organizations, worker-owned cooperatives, local governments, and the state or tribal governments.
(7) Provide an analysis of state programs currently investing in regional food systems, food access, climate-smart agriculture, and workforce development for food sector workers, including how those programs can better connect gaps in communities served.
(8) Identify yearly goals to ensure California achieves an end to hunger, including goals related to ending food deserts.
(9) Identify possible funding sources that are, or could be, available, such as tax credits or other monetary resources or incentives, including the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (Public Law 117-169), to motivate the for-profit organizations, nonprofit organizations, worker-owned cooperatives, local governments, state, or tribal governments to locate retail food establishments selling healthy, culturally appropriate, and sustainably grown food in food deserts.
(10) Develop a strategy to ensure that retail food establishments in food deserts return investment to local communities by employing local populations at living wages and benefits and prioritizing procurement from local farmers.
(11) Identify different strategies for combating urban, suburban, and rural food deserts, including strategies for partnership with tribal governments without diminishing tribal sovereignty.
It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation requiring the State of California to develop a strategic master plan to end hunger in California.
