BILL NUMBER: AB 1357 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 29, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 26, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bloom
( Coauthors: Assembly Members
Chiu and Rendon )
FEBRUARY 27, 2015
An act to add Chapter 5 (commencing with Section
104895.5) 104895.50) to Part 3 of Division 103
of the Health and Safety Code, relating to public health.
health, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take
effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1357, as amended, Bloom. Children and Family Health Promotion
Program.
Existing law provides various programs that prevent disease and
promote health.
This bill, subject to specified exemptions, would impose a fee on
every distributor, as defined, for the privilege of distributing in
this state bottled sweetened beverages, at a rate of $0.02 per fluid
ounce and for the privilege of distributing concentrate in this
state, either as concentrate or as sweetened beverages derived from
that concentrate, at the rate of $0.02 per fluid ounce of sweetened
beverage to be produced from concentrate. The Board of Equalization
would be responsible for administering and collecting the fee and
registering the distributors upon whom the fee is imposed. These
amounts would be deposited into the Children and Family Health
Promotion Trust Fund, created by the bill. The bill would require
moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be
allocated to the State Department of Public Health, the State
Department of Health Care Services, the Department of Education, and
the Department of Food and Agriculture, as specified, for various
purposes of statewide diabetes and childhood obesity treatment and
prevention activities and programs, including awarding competitive
grants to local governments, nonprofit organizations, school
districts, and other entities for activities in support of the bill's
objectives. This bill would also authorize the State Public Health
Officer, the Director of Health Care Services, the Superintendent of
Public Instruction, and the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to
establish regulations and provide procedural measures, to bring into
effect those purposes.
This bill would require the State Department of Public Health, in
consultation with the other participating departments, to prepare
and adopt an annual program budget, as specified. The bill would
establish the Children and Family Health Promotion Administration
Account within the fund, to be used, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, to reimburse expenditures by the State Department of
Public Health in administering and implementing the activities
required by the bill, and to repay specified loans from other funds.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations
relating to the consumption of sweetened beverages, diabetes,
childhood obesity, and dental disease.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Existing law provides various programs that prevent disease and
promote health.
This bill would establish the Children and Family Health Promotion
Program in the Department of Public Health. This bill would require
the program to consist of a competitive grant process in which grants
are awarded by the department to counties, cities, nonprofit
organizations, community-based organizations, and licensed clinics
that seek to invest in childhood obesity and diabetes prevention
activities and oral health programs. The bill would authorize the
department to award a grant to any entity that will use the grant to
support programs that use educational, environmental, policy, and
other public health approaches to achieve specified goals.
This bill would require the department to develop an application
and application process for the program, and would provide that the
program will be funded by moneys appropriated by the Legislature to
the department for this purpose.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations
relating to the consumption of sweetened beverages, childhood
obesity, and dental disease.
Vote: majority 2/3 . Appropriation:
no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) Over 2.3 million California adults report having been
diagnosed with diabetes, representing one out of every 12 adult
Californians. The vast majority of diabetes cases in California are
type 2, representing 1.9 million adults.
(b) According to the State Department of Public Health, diabetes
is the seventh leading cause of death in California, and has been
determined to be the underlying cause of death for almost 8,000
people each year.
(c) Adults with type 2 diabetes more often have other health
problems. One-half of adults with Type 2 diabetes also have
hypertension. This rate of occurrence is twice as high as for those
without diabetes. Adults with diabetes are also twice as likely to
have cardiovascular disease than adults without diabetes.
(d) Adults with diabetes are 50 percent more likely to have
arthritis than adults without diabetes. Over 40 percent of new cases
of kidney failure are attributed to diabetes. New cases of kidney
failure declined slightly from 2001 to 2007, but began to increase
again after 2007.
(e) Hispanics, African Americans, Native Americans, and
Asian/Pacific Islanders have higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes
than non-Hispanic whites. Hispanics and African Americans have two
times higher prevalence: 7 percent of non-Hispanic Whites have type 2
diabetes, compared with 12 percent of Latinos, 9 percent of Asian
Americans, 14 percent of Pacific Islander Americans, 13 percent of
African Americans, and 17.5 percent of Native American populations.
If trends are not reversed, it is predicted that one in three
children and nearly one-half of Latino and African American children
born in the year 2000 will develop type 2 diabetes in their lifetime.
(f) The prevalence of obesity in the United States has increased
dramatically over the past 30 years. In California, obesity rates
have increased even more, rising from 8.9 percent in 1984 to 23.8
percent in 2011. Although no group has escaped the epidemic, low
income and communities of color are disproportionately affected.
(g) The rate of children who are overweight has also increased
dramatically in recent decades. In 2010, 38 percent of California
children in grades 5, 7, and 9 were overweight or obese. Thirty-one
of California's 58 counties experienced an increase in childhood
obesity from 2005 to 2010.
(h) In 2006, California overweight and obesity-related health
costs were estimated at almost $21 billion.
(i) There is overwhelming evidence of the link between obesity,
diabetes, and heart disease and the consumption of sweetened
beverages, such as soft drinks, energy drinks, sweet teas, and sports
drinks. California adults who drink a soda or more per day are 27
percent more likely to be overweight or obese, regardless of income
or ethnicity.
(j) According to nutritional experts, sweetened beverages, such as
soft drinks, energy drinks, sweet teas, and sports drinks, offer
little or no nutritional value, but massive quantities of added
sugars. A 20-ounce bottle of soda contains the equivalent of
approximately 16 teaspoons of sugar. Yet, the American Heart
Association recommends that Americans consume no more than five to
nine teaspoons of sugar per day.
(k) Research shows that almost one-half of the extra calories
Americans consume in their diet comes from sugar-sweetened beverages,
with the average American drinking nearly 50 gallons of
sugar-sweetened beverages a year, the equivalent of 39 pounds of
extra sugar every year.
(l) Research shows that 41 percent of California children from 2
to 11 years of age, inclusive, and 62 percent of California teens
from 12 to 17 years of age, inclusive, drink soda daily, and for
every additional serving of sweetened beverage that a child consumes
per day, the likelihood of the child becoming obese increases by 60
percent.
(m) Sugary drinks are a unique contributor to excess caloric
consumption. A large body of research shows that calories from sugary
drinks do not satisfy hunger the way calories from solid food or
beverages containing fat or protein do, such as those containing milk
and plant-based proteins. As a result, sugary beverages tend to add
to the calories people consume rather than replace them.
(n) Dental caries (tooth decay) is the most common chronic
childhood disease, experienced by more than two-thirds of California'
s children. Children who frequently or excessively consume beverages
high in sugar are at increased risk for dental caries. Untreated
dental caries can lead to pain, infection, tooth loss, and in severe
cases, even death.
(o) It is the intent of the Legislature, by adopting the Children
and Family Health Promotion Trust Fund to diminish the human and
economic costs of diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and dental
disease in California. The fund is intended to create a dedicated
revenue source for health, education, and wellness programs designed
to prevent and treat obesity, diabetes, and heart and dental disease,
and to reduce the burden of attendant health conditions that result
from the overconsumption of sweetened beverages.
SEC. 2 . Chapter 5 (commencing with
Section 104895.50) is added to Part 3 of Division 103 of the
Health and Safety Code , to read:
CHAPTER 5. CHILDREN AND FAMILY HEALTH PROMOTION PROGRAM
104895.50. The following definitions shall apply for purposes of
this chapter:
(a) (1) "Beverage for medical use" means a beverage suitable for
human consumption and manufactured for use as an oral nutritional
therapy for persons who cannot absorb or metabolize dietary nutrients
from food or beverages, or for use as an oral rehydration
electrolyte solution for infants and children formulated to prevent
or treat dehydration due to illness.
(2) "Beverage for medical use" includes a "medical food."
Consistent with Section 5(b)(3) of the Orphan Drug Act (Public Law
97-414; at 21 U.S.C. 360ee(b)(3)), "medical food" means a food that
is formulated to be consumed or administered internally under the
supervision of a physician and that is intended for the specific
dietary management of a disease or condition for which distinctive
nutritional requirements, based on recognized scientific principles,
are established by medical evaluation.
(3) "Beverage for medical use" does not include drinks commonly
referred to as "sports drinks," or any other derivative or similar
terms.
(b) "Board" means the State Board of Equalization.
(c) "Bottle" means any closed or sealed container, regardless of
size or shape, including, without limitation, those made of glass,
metal, paper, plastic, or any other material or combination of
materials.
(d) "Bottled sugar-sweetened beverage" means any sugar-sweetened
beverage contained in a bottle that is ready for consumption without
further processing, such as dilution or carbonation.
(e) "Caloric sweetener" means any caloric substance suitable for
human consumption that humans perceive as sweet, including, but not
limited to, sucrose, fructose, glucose, fruit juice concentrate, or
other sugars. "Caloric sweetener" excludes noncaloric sweeteners. For
purposes of this definition, "caloric" means a substance that adds
calories to the diet of a person who consumes that substance.
(f) "Consumer" means a person who purchases a sugar-sweetened
beverage for consumption and not for sale to another.
(g) "Distributor" means any person, including a manufacturer or
wholesale dealer, who receives, stores, manufactures, bottles, or
distributes bottled sugar-sweetened beverages, syrups, or powders for
sale to retailers doing business in the state, or any combination of
these activities, whether or not that person also sells those
products to consumers.
(h) "Fund" means the Children and Family Health Promotion Trust
Fund.
(i) "Milk" means natural liquid milk, regardless of animal or
plant source or butterfat content, natural milk concentrate, whether
or not reconstituted, or dehydrated natural milk, whether or not
reconstituted.
(j) "Natural fruit juice" means the original liquid resulting from
the pressing of fruits, or the liquid resulting from the dilution
with water of dehydrated natural fruit juice.
(k) "Natural vegetable juice" means the original liquid resulting
from the pressing of vegetables, or the liquid resulting from the
dilution with water of dehydrated natural vegetable juice.
(l) "Noncaloric sweetener" means any noncaloric substance suitable
for human consumption that humans perceive as sweet, including, but
not limited to, aspartame, acesulfame-K, neotame, saccharin,
sucralose, and stevia. "Noncaloric sweetener" excludes caloric
sweeteners. For purposes of this definition, "noncaloric" means a
substance that contains fewer than five calories per serving.
(m) "Person" means a natural person, partnership, cooperative
association, limited liability company, corporation, personal
representative, receiver, trustee, assignee, or other legal entity.
(n) "Place of business" means any place where sugar-sweetened
beverages, syrups, or powders are manufactured or received for sale
in the state.
(o) "Powder" means any solid mixture of ingredients used in
making, mixing, or compounding sugar-sweetened beverages by mixing
the powder with one or more other ingredients, including, but not
limited to, water, ice, syrup, simple syrup, fruits, vegetables,
fruit juice, vegetable juice, or carbonation or other gas.
(p) "Retailer" means any person who sells or otherwise dispenses
in the state a sugar-sweetened beverage to a consumer whether or not
that person is also a distributor.
(q) "Sale" means the transfer of title or possession for valuable
consideration, regardless of the manner by which the transfer is
completed.
(r) "State" means the State of California.
(s) (1) "Sugar-sweetened beverage" means any nonalcoholic
beverage, carbonated or noncarbonated, that is intended for human
consumption and contains added caloric sweetener. As used in this
subdivision, "nonalcoholic beverage" means any beverage that contains
less than one-half of 1 percent alcohol per volume.
(2) "Sugar-sweetened beverage" does not include any of the
following:
(A) Bottled sugar-sweetened beverages, syrups, and powders sold to
the United States government and American Indian tribal governments.
(B) Bottled sugar-sweetened beverages, syrups, and powders sold by
a distributor to another distributor that is registered pursuant to
Section 104895.58, if the sales invoice clearly indicates that the
sale is exempt. If the sale is to a person who is both a distributor
and a retailer, the sale shall also be fee-exempt and the fee shall
be paid when the purchasing distributor or retailer resells the
product to a retailer or a consumer. This exemption does not apply to
any other sale to a retailer.
(C) Beverages sweetened solely with noncaloric sweeteners.
(D) Beverages consisting of 100 percent natural fruit or vegetable
juice, with no added caloric sweetener.
(E) Beverages in which milk, or soy, rice, or similar milk
substitute, is the primary ingredient or the first listed ingredient
on the label of the beverage.
(F) Beverages with fewer than five grams of added sugar or other
caloric sweeteners per 12 ounces.
(G) Coffee or tea without added caloric sweetener.
(H) Infant formula.
(I) Beverages for medical use.
(J) Water without any caloric sweetener.
(t) "Syrup" means a liquid mixture of ingredients used in making,
mixing, or compounding sugar-sweetened beverages using one or more
other ingredients, including, but not limited to, water, ice, powder,
simple syrup, fruits, vegetables, fruit juice, vegetable juice,
carbonation, or other gas.
(u) "Water" includes nonflavored water, or water flavored with
noncaloric "natural fruit essence" or "natural flavor." The source of
the water may be artesian, mineral, spring, or well. The type of
water may also include carbonated, such as sparkling, club, or
seltzer, and still, distilled, or purified, such as demineralized,
deionized, or reverse osmosis.
104895.51. The Children and Family Health Promotion Trust Fund is
hereby established in the State Treasury. The fund shall consist of
all fees, interest, penalties, and other amounts collected pursuant
to this chapter, less refunds and reimbursement for expenses incurred
in the administration and collection of the fees.
(a) Fifty-one percent of the moneys in the fund shall be allocated
to the State Department of Public Health. Amounts allocated for
purposes of this subdivision shall be distributed equally, as
follows:
(1) To administer a competitive grant program for county
governments seeking to invest in childhood obesity and diabetes
prevention activities.
(2) To administer a competitive grant program for nonprofit
organizations and community based organizations seeking to invest in
childhood obesity and diabetes prevention activities.
(3) The department may award a grant to any entity described in
subparagraphs (A) and (B) that will use the grant to support programs
that use educational, environmental, policy, and other public health
approaches to achieve all of the following goals:
(A) To improve access to, and consumption of, healthy and
affordable foods and beverages, and reduce access to, and consumption
of, calorie-dense and nutrient-poor foods.
(B) To encourage physical activity and decrease sedentary
behavior.
(C) To raise awareness about the importance of nutrition and
physical activity in the prevention of childhood obesity and
diabetes.
(4) To the department's Oral Health Program to support dental
health programs.
(5) To administer a competitive grant program for licensed clinics
to invest in childhood obesity and diabetes prevention and treatment
activities, and children's dental programs. Funding shall support
programs that use educational and other public health approaches that
raise awareness about the importance of nutrition and physical
activity in the prevention of childhood obesity and diabetes.
(b) Four percent to the Expanded Access to Primary Care, Rural
Health Services Development, Seasonal Agricultural Migratory Workers,
and Indian Health programs in the State Department of Health Care
Services. Funds shall be used to support clinic-based obesity and
diabetes prevention and related disease management.
(c) Twenty-five percent to the Department of Education, to be
distributed equally for the following purposes:
(1) To administer a competitive grant program for school districts
for educational, environmental, policy, and other public health
approaches that promote physical activity. The approaches funded
pursuant to this paragraph may include improving or constructing
school recreational facilities that are used for recess and physical
education, providing continuing education training for physical
education teachers, hiring qualified physical education teachers, and
implementing Safe Routes to School programs.
(2) To administer a competitive grant program for school districts
for educational, environmental, policy, and other public health
approaches that promote nutrition. The approaches funded pursuant to
this paragraph may include improving the quality and nutrition of
school breakfasts, lunches, and snacks, and incorporating practical
nutrition education into the curriculum.
(3) To the California Farm to School Program administered by the
department.
(4) To administer a competitive grant program for school districts
for ensuring access to clean drinking water throughout the
schoolday, including, but not limited to, drinking fountains and
water bottle refilling stations.
(d) Twenty percent to the Department of Food and Agriculture, to
be distributed equally for the following purposes:
(1) To the Office of Farm to Fork for nutritious foods incentive
programs.
(2) To administer a grant program to support producers of fresh
fruits and vegetables and other specialty crops.
(e) (1) The State Department of Public Health shall develop an
application and application process for the grant programs
established pursuant to this section.
(2) Applicants interested in receiving a grant shall submit an
application to the department responsible for the individual grant
program.
(f) No more than seven percent of the funds received shall be used
by any department for administrative costs.
(g) All moneys in the fund shall be allocated with priority given
to communities exhibiting high prevalence of type 2 diabetes, as
reported by the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) conducted
by the University of California, Los Angeles Center for Health Policy
Research. Departments shall use the most current survey data
available.
(h) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, all moneys in the fund
shall be expended only for the purposes expressed in this chapter,
and shall be used only to supplement existing levels of service.
Moneys in the fund shall not supplant any federal, state, or local
funding for existing levels of service.
(i) The State Public Health Officer, the Secretary of the
Department of Food and Agriculture, the Director of Health Care
Services, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction may coordinate
to establish regulations and procedural measures necessary to
effectuate the purposes of this chapter. The regulations may provide
for specific programs to be funded consistent with the allocation of
funds as set forth in this section. In establishing these
regulations, the department shall give particular consideration to
reducing the prevalence of diabetes, as identified by data from the
CHIS.
(j) The California State Auditor's office shall conduct periodic
audits to ensure that the annual allocation to individual programs is
awarded by the fund in a timely fashion consistent with the
requirements of this chapter. The first audit shall be conducted no
later than 24 months after the effective date of this section.
104895.52. (a) No later than July 1, 2016, the Director of the
Department of Public Health shall appoint an advisory committee to
provide input regarding the implementation of the program. The
advisory committee shall be a purely advisory body and shall have no
final decisionmaking authority with respect to the implementation of
this chapter.
(b) The advisory committee shall be composed of at least seven
members as follows:
(1) The State Department of Public Health, the Department of Food
and Agriculture, the State Department of Health Care Services, and
the State Department of Education each shall appoint at least one
member, for a total of at least four members.
(2) The Governor, the Speaker of the Assembly, and the President
pro Tempore of the Senate each shall appoint one member with
expertise in childhood obesity and diabetes prevention, and
experience in researching public health issues or evaluating public
health programs related to diabetes, obesity, chronic disease
prevention, and sugary drink consumption. At least one of those three
members shall have experience with a community-based chronic disease
prevention organization.
(c) The advisory committee shall conduct an annual study and
submit a report to the Legislature and all relevant standing
committees, regarding the process and outcome performance of the
fund. The study and report may include, but need not be limited to, a
review of how moneys in the fund were allocated, annual and
longitudinal data on childhood obesity prevalence and incidence
rates, data on childhood diabetes and incidence rates, and
longitudinal information on sweetened beverage consumption rates
across the state population. The report shall be submitted each year.
104895.53. (a) A health impact fee is hereby imposed on every
distributor for the privilege of distributing bottled sweetened
beverages and concentrate in the state, for deposit into the fund.
The fees shall be calculated as follows:
(1) The fee on bottled sweetened beverages distributed in this
state shall be two cents ($0.02) per fluid ounce.
(2) The fee on concentrates distributed in the state either as
concentrate or as a sweetened beverage derived from that concentrate
shall be equal to two cents ($0.02) per fluid ounce of sweetened
beverage produced from that concentrate. For purposes of calculating
the fee for concentrate, the volume of sweetened beverage to be
produced from concentrate shall be the largest volume resulting from
use of the concentrate according to any manufacturer's instructions.
(b) In each transaction described in subdivision (a), the
distributor shall include the following information on each receipt,
invoice, or other form of accounting for the distribution of bottled
sweetened beverages or concentrate:
(1) The name and address of the distributor.
(2) The name and address of the purchaser.
(3) The date of sale and invoice number.
(4) The kind, quantity, size, and capacity of packages of bottled
sweetened beverages, sweetened beverages, or concentrate sold.
(5) The amount of fees due from the distributor on the sale of the
bottled sweetened beverages, sweetened beverages, or concentrate.
(6) Any other information, as required by the board.
(c) The program shall develop reimbursement criteria to enable
participating departments to recover administrative costs associated
with collecting the charge.
(d) This section shall not preempt a city or county from enacting
or enforcing an ordinance related to taxation of sugar-sweetened
beverages if the ordinance is more stringent than this section.
104895.54. (a) (1) No later than July 1, 2016, and annually
thereafter, the State Department of Public Health, in consultation
with the State Department of Health Care Services, the Department of
Education, and the Department of Food and Agriculture, shall commence
preparation of a program budget for the following calendar year that
includes all of the following information:
(A) Anticipated revenues and costs of implementing the program,
including related programs, projects, contracts, and administrative
expenses.
(B) A recommended funding level sufficient to cover the program's
budgeted costs and to operate the program over a multiyear period in
a prudent and responsible manner.
(C) The amount of the health impact fees, as described in Section
104895.53 and itemization of costs that the fees cover.
(2) The department shall adopt a final program budget for purposes
of this chapter by October 1 of each year.
(b) The fund shall reimburse the department for administration and
implementation costs the department incurs pursuant to this chapter,
as provided in subdivision (c). The reimbursement shall not exceed
the department's direct costs to implement and enforce this chapter.
(c) The department shall deposit all moneys submitted for
reimbursement costs by the program into the Children and Family
Health Promotion Administration Account, which is hereby established
within the fund. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, moneys in the
account shall be expended by the State Department of Public Health
to administer and enforce this chapter, and to repay any outstanding
loans made from other funds used
to finance startup costs of the department's activities
pursuant to this chapter.
104895.55. (a) The board shall administer and collect the fees
imposed by this chapter pursuant to the Fee Collection Procedures Law
(Part 30 (commencing with Section 55001)). For purposes of this
chapter, the references in the Fee Collection Procedures Law to "fee"
shall include the fees imposed by this chapter and references to
"feepayer" shall include a person required to pay the fees imposed by
this chapter.
(b) The board may prescribe, adopt, and enforce regulations
relating to the administration and enforcement of this chapter,
including, but not limited to, collections, reporting, refunds, and
appeals.
(c) The board may adopt regulations to implement this chapter. The
adoption, amendment, repeal, or readoption of a regulation
authorized by this section is deemed to address an emergency, for
purposes of Sections 11346.1 and 11349.6 of the Government Code, and
the board is hereby exempted for this purpose from the requirements
of subdivision (b) of Section 11346.1 of the Government Code.
104895.56. The fees imposed by this chapter are due and payable
to the board on or before the last day of the first month following
each calendar quarter.
104895.57. (a) On or before the last day of the first month
following each calendar quarter, a return for the preceding calendar
quarter shall be filed with the board using electronic media.
(b) The board may prescribe those forms and reporting requirements
as are necessary to implement the fees, including, but not limited
to, information regarding the total amount of bottled sweetened
beverages and concentrate sold and the amount due.
(c) Returns shall be authenticated in a form or pursuant to
methods prescribed by the board.
104895.58. Every distributor required to pay the fees imposed
under this chapter shall register with the board. An application for
registration shall be made upon a form prescribed by the board and
shall set forth the name under which the applicant transacts or
intends to transact business, the location or locations of each place
of business, and any other information required by the board. An
application for an account under this section shall be authenticated
in a form, or pursuant to methods, prescribed by the board.
104895.59. The distribution of bottled sweetened beverages or
concentrate by a distributor to either of the following persons shall
be exempt from the fees imposed by this chapter:
(a) To a person when, pursuant to the contract of sale, the
bottled sweetened beverages or concentrate shall be shipped, and are
shipped, to a point outside of this state by the distributor by means
of either of the following:
(1) Facilities operated by the distributor.
(2) Delivery by the distributor to a carrier, customs broker, or
forwarding agent, whether hired by the purchaser or not, for shipment
to the out-of-state point.
(b) To a person who is otherwise exempt from the taxation of that
sale, use, or consumption under the Constitution of the United
States, federal law or regulation, or the California Constitution.
104895.60. A distributor who has paid a fee, either directly to
the state or to another distributor registered under this part, and
makes a subsequent distribution of bottled sweetened beverages or
concentrate may claim a credit on its return for the period in which
the subsequent sale or distribution occurs.
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 Constitution and shall go
into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to provide timely funding necessary to help mitigate the
deleterious health effects that result from the overconsumption of
sweetened beverages, including diabetes, heart disease, and oral
decay, it is necessary for this act to take effect immediately.
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares
all of the following:
(a) Over 2.3 million California adults report having been
diagnosed with diabetes, representing one out of every 12 adult
Californians. The vast majority of diabetes cases in California are
type 2, representing 1.9 million adults.
(b) According to the California Department of Public Health,
diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in California, and
determined to be the underlying cause of death in almost 8,000 people
each year. Diabetes may be underreported as a cause of death, and is
a contributing factor to many deaths from heart disease and stroke.
(c) Adults with type 2 diabetes more often have other health
problems. One out of every two adults with type 2 diabetes also has
hypertension. This is two times higher than among those without
diabetes. Adults with diabetes are also two times more likely to have
cardiovascular disease than adults without diabetes.
(d) Hispanics, African Americans, Native Americans, and
Asian/Pacific Islanders have higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes
than non-Hispanic Whites. Hispanics and African Americans have two
times higher prevalence: 7 percent of non-Hispanic Whites have type 2
diabetes, compared with 12 percent of Latinos, 9 percent of Asian
Americans, 14 percent of Pacific Islander Americans, 13 percent of
African Americans, and 17.5 percent of Native American populations.
(e) Type 2 diabetes, previously only seen among adults, is now
increasing among children. If the current obesity trends are not
reversed, it is predicted that one in three children and nearly
one-half of Latino and African American children born in the year
2000 will develop type 2 diabetes in their lifetime. Research shows
that overweight children have a much greater chance of being obese as
adults, with all the health risks that entails. Heart disease is the
leading cause of death in the United States, with diabetes as the
seventh leading cause of death.
(f) There is overwhelming evidence of the link between obesity,
diabetes, and heart disease and the consumption of sweetened
beverages, such as soft drinks, energy drinks, sweet teas, and sports
drinks. California adults who drink a soda or more per day are 27
percent more likely to be overweight or obese, regardless of income
or ethnicity.
(g) The rate of children who are overweight has also increased
dramatically in recent decades. After being relatively constant from
the 1960s to the 1970s, the prevalence of overweight children has
more than quadrupled among children between 6 and 11 years of age and
nearly tripled among those between 12 and 19 years of age. In
California in 2010, 38 percent of children in grades 5, 7, and 9 were
overweight or obese. Thirty-one of California's 58 counties
experienced an increase in childhood overweight from 2005 to 2010.
(h) The obesity epidemic is of particular concern because obesity
increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease, certain types of
cancer, arthritis, asthma, and breathing problems. Depending on their
level of obesity, from 60 percent to over 80 percent of obese adults
have type 2 diabetes, high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure,
or other related conditions. It has been reported that up to 60
percent of obese children 5 to 10 years of age have early signs of
heart disease.
(i) According to nutritional experts, sweetened beverages, such as
soft drinks, energy drinks, sweet teas, and sport drinks, offer
little or no nutritional value, but massive quantities of added
sugars. A 20-ounce bottle of soda contains the equivalent of
approximately 16 teaspoons of sugar. Yet, the American Heart
Association recommends that Americans consume no more than five to
nine teaspoons of sugar per day.
(j) Research shows that almost one-half of the extra calories
Americans consume in their diet comes from sugar sweetened beverages,
with the average American drinking nearly 50 gallons of
sugar-sweetened beverages a year, the equivalent of 39 pounds of
extra sugar every year.
(k) Research shows that 41 percent of California children 2 to 11
years of age and 62 percent of California teens 12 to 17 years of age
drink soda daily, and for every additional serving of sweetened
beverage that a child consumes a day, the likelihood of the child
becoming obese increases by 60 percent.
(l) The proportion of youth drinking at least one sugary beverage
per day was highest among Latinos at 48 percent, significantly higher
than among whites at 33 percent. African- American youth, at 43
percent, and multi-racial youth, at 46 percent, also had
significantly higher consumption than whites.
(m) Dental caries (tooth decay) are the most common chronic
childhood disease, experienced by more than two-thirds of California'
s children. Children who frequently or excessively consume beverages
high in sugar are at increased risk for dental caries. Untreated
dental caries can lead to pain, infection, tooth loss, and in severe
cases, even death. It can slow normal growth and development by
restricting nutritional intake. Children who are missing teeth may
have chewing problems that limit their food choices and result in
nutritionally inadequate diets.
(n) It is the intent of the Legislature to create a program
designed to prevent and treat obesity, diabetes, heart and dental
disease and reduce the burden of attendant health conditions that
result from the overconsumption of sweetened beverages.
SEC. 2. Chapter 5 (commencing with Section
104895.5) is added to Part 3 of Division 103 of the Health and Safety
Code, to read:
CHAPTER 5. CHILDREN AND FAMILY HEALTH PROMOTION PROGRAM
104895.5. (a) The Children and Family Health Promotion Program is
hereby established in the Department of Public Health.
(b) The program shall consist of a competitive grant process in
which grants are awarded by the department to counties, cities,
nonprofit organizations, community-based organizations, and clinics
licensed pursuant to Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 1200) of
Division 2 that seek to invest in childhood obesity and diabetes
prevention activities and oral health programs.
(c) The department may award a grant to any entity described in
subdivision (b) that will use the grant to support programs that use
educational, environmental, policy, and other public health
approaches to achieve all the following goals:
(1) Improve access to, and consumption of, healthy, safe, and
affordable foods and beverages.
(2) Reduce access to, and consumption of, calorie-dense and
nutrient-poor foods.
(3) Encourage physical activity and decrease sedentary behavior.
(4) Raise awareness about the importance of nutrition and physical
activity to childhood obesity and diabetes prevention.
(d) The department shall develop an application and application
process for the program.
(e) Applicants interested receiving a grant shall submit an
application to the department.
(f) The program shall be funded by any moneys appropriated by the
Legislature to the department for this purpose.