Bill Text: CA AB221 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Emergency food assistance.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 18-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2021-08-26 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB221 Detail]

Download: California-2021-AB221-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Senate  June 14, 2021

Amended  IN  Assembly  March 30, 2021

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 221

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Introduced by Assembly Members Santiago, Chiu, Robert Rivas, and Gipson
(Principal coauthor: Senator Rubio)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Burke, Carrillo, Chau, Cristina Garcia, Grayson, Luz Rivas, Blanca Rubio, Stone, and Villapudua)
(Coauthors: Senators Dodd, Durazo, Kamlager, and Wiener)

January 11, 2021

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An act to add and repeal Chapter 15.5 (commencing with Section 18996.5) to and Chapter 15.6 (commencing with Section 18997) of Part 6 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to food assistance programs, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 221, as amended, Santiago. Emergency food assistance.

Existing law establishes and requires the State Department of Social Services to administer the CalFood Program to provide food and funding to food banks whose primary function is to facilitate the distribution of food to low-income households, as specified.

Upon the appropriation of funds by the Legislature for this purpose, or a determination by the Governor that specified funds available to the Governor may be used for this purpose, this bill would require the department to provide a food assistance benefit statewide to low-income California residents and to contract with specified entities, including a Feeding America partner state organization, to issue this benefit in the form of a one-time use, prepaid card preloaded with $600 for use at retailers that sell groceries. The bill would provide that a person is eligible for this benefit if they are an adult who self-attests to eligibility for at least one of 3 prescribed benefits, including the Federal Emergency Food Assistance Program, and that this benefit is a disaster benefit rather than a public social service. The bill would authorize the contractor to subcontract with local nonprofit organizations to issue the food assistance benefit, and would require any subcontracting nonprofit to comply with specified requirements, including maintaining records. The bill would establish various administrative requirements related to the benefit.

This bill would require the department to provide a food assistance benefit to low-income California residents, regardless of immigration status, by contracting with nonprofit entities, as defined, to issue the food assistance benefit in the form of prepaid cards. The bill would require the department to procure the prepaid cards to administer the food assistance benefit and to ensure the availability of those prepaid cards to nonprofit entities, as specified. The bill would require participating nonprofit entities to maintain specified records. The bill would require the department and nonprofit entities to distribute all of the food assistance benefits by July 1, 2023. The bill would authorize the department to implement, interpret, or make specific those provisions without taking regulatory action. The bill would make those provisions operative upon appropriation.

The bill would require the department, in consultation with a workgroup, to conduct a study author a report to provide recommendations and solutions to for a permanent food assistance program for low-income California residents experiencing food insecurity, to complete that study report by January 1, 2023, and to submit a copy of that study to the Legislature. report to the Legislature, as specified.

This bill would repeal its provisions on January 1, 2025.

This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Digest Key

Vote: 2/3   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 Chapter 15.5 (commencing with Section 18996.5) is added to Part 6 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

CHAPTER  15.5. Emergency Food Assistance For All

18996.5.

(a)(1)Upon the appropriation of funds by the Legislature for this purpose, or upon a determination by the Governor that funds available to the Governor may be used for this purpose, the State Department of Social Services shall do both of the following:

(A)Provide a food assistance benefit statewide to low-income California residents, regardless of their immigration status.

(B)(i)Contract with one of the following entities to issue the food assistance benefit:

(I)A Feeding America partner state organization with the capacity to provide the food assistance benefit.

(II)Any other nonprofit entity that the department deems appropriate.

(ii)The contractor described in clause (i) may subcontract with local nonprofit organizations to issue the food assistance benefit, including all of the following:

(I)Existing federal Emergency Food Assistance Program providers under contract with the department.

(II)Members of the California Association of Food Banks.

(III)Nonprofit organizations that contracted with the department for the Disaster Relief Assistance for Immigrants project.

(iii)(I)The contract specified in clause (i) shall include all of the contractor’s costs to administer the program and the administrative expenses for subcontracting nonprofits, as specified in clause (ii), and shall require the department to advance all administrative expenses to the contractor.

(II)Administrative expenses for participating subcontracting nonprofits shall not exceed 15 percent of the contract amount. Administrative costs shall include, but are not limited to, community outreach, ensuring language access for applicants and recipients of the food assistance benefit issued pursuant to this chapter, and the training of staff of the subcontracting nonprofits.

(2)The department shall procure the prepaid cards that shall be provided pursuant to subdivision (c), and shall ensure the availability of, and the customer service support for, these prepaid cards to the subcontracting nonprofits, as specified in clause (ii) of subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1), or to the contractor, as necessary.

(3)(A)The department shall provide any material, including outreach, application, and informational material, to the contractor or subcontracting nonprofits. The contractor or subcontracting nonprofits shall disseminate that material to eligible recipients, as necessary, for those individuals to avail themselves to the food assistance benefit.

(B)The material specified in subparagraph (A) shall meet departmental standards relating to threshold language and literacy levels.

(4)The department shall have the emergency authority to expedite all contracts necessary to distribute the emergency food benefit issued under this chapter.

(b)A person shall be eligible for the food assistance benefit issued pursuant to this chapter if that person is an adult who self-attests to eligibility for at least one of these three benefits:

(1)Federal Emergency Food Assistance Program (7 C.F.R. Parts 250 and 251).

(2)The Disaster Relief Assistance for Immigrants project.

(3)Immigrant legal services, as provided for under Section 13303.

(c)(1)The food assistance benefit provided pursuant to this chapter shall be issued in the form of a prepaid card that shall be limited to use at retailers that sell groceries.

(2)The issued prepaid card shall be available for one-time use, and shall be preloaded with six hundred dollars ($600). The subcontracting nonprofits shall issue the food assistance benefit on two different distribution periods at least one month apart.

(d)The food assistance benefit, and local administrative expenses, issued pursuant to this chapter shall be allocated by the department through the formula used in the federal Emergency Food Assistance Program. In consultation with the department, the contractor shall adjust county allocations and local administrative expenses based on the subcontracting nonprofits, as described in clause (ii) of subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), which elect to participate.

(e)(1)A subcontracting nonprofit that issues the food assistance benefit shall maintain all of the following records:

(A)The total number of prepaid cards received from the department, and the date those cards are received.

(B)The total number of prepaid cards issued during each distribution period.

(C)The dates of each distribution period.

(2)A subcontracting nonprofit that maintains the records described under subparagraphs (A) to (C), inclusive, of paragraph (1) shall ensure that those records are made available to the department and the contractor upon request.

(f)The food assistance benefit issued pursuant to this chapter is a disaster benefit, and is not a public social service administered by the department. Section 10950 shall not apply to this chapter.

18996.5.

 For purposes of this chapter, “nonprofit entities” shall include only the following:

(a) Existing federal Emergency Food Assistance Program or Commodity Supplemental Food Program providers under contract with the State Department of Social Services.

(b) Members of the California Association of Food Banks.

(c) Nonprofit organizations that contracted with the department for the Disaster Relief Assistance for Immigrants project.

18996.6.

 (a) The State Department of Social Services shall provide a food assistance benefit statewide to low-income California residents, regardless of their immigration status, by contracting with nonprofit entities to issue the food assistance benefit.

(b) (1) The contracts specified in subdivision (a) shall include all of the nonprofit entities’ costs to administer the program and shall allow the department to advance up to 50 percent of administrative expenses to a nonprofit entity.

(2) Administrative expenses for a nonprofit entity shall not exceed 25 percent of total program costs to administer the program.

(3) Administrative costs pursuant to paragraph (2) shall include, but are not limited to, adequate staffing, necessary security and public safety protocols, and the training of staff of the nonprofit entity.

(4) A nonprofit entity shall be responsible for community outreach using multilingual materials provided by the department.

(c) (1) The department shall procure prepaid cards that shall be provided to administer the food assistance benefit pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 18996.7 and shall ensure the availability of those prepaid cards to the nonprofit entities.

(2) The department shall ensure that the entity with which the department contracts to procure the prepaid cards provides the customer service support for those prepaid cards.

(d) (1) The department shall provide any material, including outreach, self-attestation, and informational material, to the nonprofit entities. The department shall ensure that the nonprofit entities disseminate that material to eligible recipients, as necessary for those individuals to avail themselves of the food assistance benefit.

(2) The material described in paragraph (1) shall meet departmental standards relating to threshold language and literacy levels.

18996.7.

 (a) Nonprofit entities shall distribute the food assistance benefit in the form of prepaid cards procured by the department pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 18996.6 to eligible individuals, as specified in subdivision (b).

(b) Nonprofit entities shall distribute the food assistance benefit to individuals who self-attest that they are eligible for the Federal Emergency Food Assistance Program (7 C.F.R. Parts 250 and 251).

18996.8.

 (a) The food assistance benefit provided pursuant to this chapter shall be limited to use at retailers that sell groceries and shall be limited to allow only the purchase of food items.

(b) The issued prepaid card shall be preloaded with six hundred dollars ($600) and shall not be reloaded with additional benefits. The nonprofit entities may stagger the distribution periods of the food assistance benefit and shall maximize the geographic availability of the food assistance benefit in their local communities.

18996.9.

 The food assistance benefit issued pursuant to this chapter and local administrative expenses shall be allocated by the department according to guidelines developed by a workgroup consisting of the department, nonprofit entities, and other stakeholders, as determined by the department, taking into account the population of each geographic area served. The department shall inform nonprofit entities eligible to participate, and shall convene the nonprofit entities that elect to participate to adjust allocations and local administrative expenses, as well as other program design functions. The department shall endeavor to complete this process by October 1, 2021.

18996.10.

 (a) A nonprofit entity that issues the food assistance benefit pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 18996.7 shall maintain all of the following records:

(1) The total number of prepaid cards received from the department and the dates those cards are received.

(2) The total number of prepaid cards issued during each distribution period.

(3) The dates of each distribution period.

(b) A nonprofit entity shall ensure that the records described in subdivision (a) are made available to the department upon request.

18996.11.

 The food assistance benefit issued pursuant to this chapter is a disaster benefit and is not a public social service administered by the department.

18996.12.

 The department and nonprofit entities shall distribute all of the food assistance benefits by July 1, 2023.

18996.13.

 Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), the department may implement, interpret, or make specific this chapter without taking any regulatory action.

18996.14.

 This chapter shall be operative upon appropriation by the Legislature.

18996.15.

 This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2025, and as of that date is repealed.

SEC. 2.

 Chapter 15.6 (commencing with Section 18997) is added to Part 6 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

CHAPTER  15.6 Food Assistance Program Report.

18996.6. 18997.

 (a) The department, in consultation with a workgroup, shall conduct a study workgroup consisting of the department, nonprofit entities, and other stakeholders, as determined by the department, shall author a report to provide recommendations and solutions to for a permanent food assistance program for all low-income California residents experiencing food insecurity, regardless of their immigration status. The study report shall include, but is not limited to, both of the following:

(1) Identifying communities who have low rates of participation in California food assistance programs.

(2) Identifying communities who have been excluded from relief efforts when a federal, local, or state emergency has been declared due to natural disasters, wildfires, a public health crisis, or other causes of a state of emergency that have impacted the health and safety of Californians.

(b) The department shall complete the study by January 1, 2023, and shall submit a copy of that study report to the Legislature.

(c) The report required pursuant to this section shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

18997.5.

 This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2025, and as of that date is repealed.

SEC. 2.SEC. 3.

 This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the California Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:

In order to facilitate the immediate delivery of food assistance during the COVID-19 public health emergency, it is necessary that this act go into effect immediately.