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AB-1961 End Hunger in California Act of 2024.(2023-2024)

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Date Published: 09/05/2024 02:00 PM
AB1961:v93#DOCUMENT

Enrolled  September 05, 2024
Passed  IN  Senate  August 30, 2024
Passed  IN  Assembly  August 31, 2024
Amended  IN  Senate  August 15, 2024
Amended  IN  Senate  July 03, 2024
Amended  IN  Senate  June 12, 2024
Amended  IN  Assembly  May 16, 2024
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 21, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1961

Introduced by Assembly Member Wicks
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Soria)

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, Wicks. End Hunger in California Act of 2024.
Existing law establishes the Department of Food and Agriculture, under the control of the Secretary of Food and Agriculture, to promote and protect the agricultural industry of the state.
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 require the Department of Food and Agriculture, 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 twice per year and to be composed of 25 members, from specified agencies and with specified knowledge and expertise in various food-related subject matters. The bill would authorize the department to use privately donated funds to provide non-state-employed 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 Department of Food and Agriculture to serve as the lead agency for developing the End Hunger in California Master Plan and to assist the task force in carrying out its duties. The bill would require the plan to be distributed to the Legislature no later than January 1, 2027, or 2 years after an appropriation of funds is made to implement these provisions, whichever is later, 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, and identification of goals and implementation mechanisms to ensure California achieves an end to hunger. The bill would make related findings and declarations. The bill would also require the task force to report to the Legislature, on an annual basis, the demographic information of its members, as defined, to the extent that the information is available and the member has agreed to disclose their demographic information in the report.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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 Department of Food and Agriculture, in consultation with the State Department of Public Health, State Department of Education, 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 25 members, as follows:
(1) One representative from the State Department of Public Health, or their designee.
(2) One representative from the State Department of Education, or their designee.
(3) One representative from the Department of Food and Agriculture, including from the Office of Farm to Fork, or their designee.
(4) One representative from CalFresh, or their designee.
(5) One representative from California Food Assistance Program, or their designee.
(6) One representative from the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, or their designee.
(7) One representative from the California Workforce Development Board, within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, or their designee.
(8) Three representatives of labor organizations or community-based organizations representing workers in food-related areas, including, but not limited to, agriculture, food packaging, grocery, and human services programs. These representatives shall be selected exclusively by the Labor and Workforce Development Agency.
(9) Three 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, and regional food systems. These representatives shall be selected exclusively by the Department of Food and Agriculture, in consultation with the State Department of Social Services.
(10) One representative from community-based organizations or nonprofit organizations with expertise in school food programs, after school programs, or summer meal programs. This representative shall be selected exclusively by the Department of Food and Agriculture.
(11) Three representatives from antihunger organizations and county welfare administrators, including organizations that operate food banks. These representatives shall be selected exclusively by the State Department of Social Services.
(12) One representative from a community-based organization or nonprofit organization with expertise in food as medicine programs. This representative shall be selected exclusively by the Department of Food and Agriculture.
(13) Three farmers, including 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, and 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.). These representatives shall be selected exclusively by the Department of Food and Agriculture.
(14) Two representatives of Native American, tribal, or indigenous groups, to be selected by the Governor’s California Truth and Healing Council, in additional to the entities outlined in subdivision (a).
(15) Two grocery retailers representing an independent, regional, or chain grocery company. These representatives shall be selected exclusively by the Department of Food and Agriculture.
(c) The Department of Food and Agriculture may consult with individuals with expertise in land procurement related to the food sector, food transportation and warehousing, market consolidation, or food access.
(d) The Department of Food and Agriculture shall ensure all of the following within the task force:
(1) Geographic diversity, including across urban, suburban, and rural geographies.
(2) Racial and ethnic diversity, including representation by racial and ethnic communities disproportionately affected by food insecurity.
(3) Identification and facilitation of stakeholder engagement from local initiatives addressing food insecurity and regional food systems.
(e) Notwithstanding any other law, the department may utilize privately donated funds to provide non-state-employed 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 department, for each day of attendance at a noticed meeting of the task force. The department may also reimburse members of the task force for actual and necessary travel expenses incurred in connection with their official duties, and provide compensation for people with lived experience of food insecurity who work with the task force pursuant to this chapter based on their actual engagement level.
(f) The task force shall meet at least twice per year 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.
(g) The Department of Food and Agriculture, 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 department may use its existing resources to absorb costs for implementing this chapter. Notwithstanding any other law, the department may also accept and expend funds from nongovernmental sources for its work with the task force.
(h) The plan shall be distributed to the Legislature no later than January 1, 2027, or two years after an appropriation of funds is made to implement this section, whichever is later, in accordance with Section 9795 of the Government Code, and be made publicly available on the Department of Food and Agriculture’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) 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.
(3) 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, the federal Commodity Supplemental Food Program, and the federal Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, 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.
(4) 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.
(5) Identify goals and implementation mechanisms to ensure California achieves an end to hunger, including goals related to ending food deserts, different strategies for combating urban, suburban, and rural food deserts, and strategies for partnership with local and tribal governments without diminishing tribal sovereignty.
(i) The plan may do all of the following:
(1) Map all food deserts in California.
(2) 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.
(3) Identify possible funding sources that are, or could be, available, such as tax credits or other monetary resources or incentives, including the federal 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.
(4) 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.
(j) (1) The task force shall report to the Legislature, on an annual basis, the demographic information of its members, to the extent that the information is available and the member has agreed to disclose their demographic information in the report.
(2) For purposes of this subdivision, “demographic information” means the age, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, disability status, region, veteran status, and sexual orientation of the member.
(3) A report to be submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.