NY State Assembly Bill 2009-A10310

Assembly Bill A10310

2009-2010 Legislative Session

Creates the "healthy kids act" pilot program to encourage students to develop healthy eating habits at school; appropriation

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Assembly Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Mar 17, 2010	referred to education

co-Sponsors

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2009-A10310 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Assembly Education
Law Section:: Education
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2011-2012: A1569
2013-2014: A6196

2009-A10310 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Creates the "healthy kids act" pilot program to encourage students to develop healthy eating habits at school; includes ten participating school districts and grant to offset costs; appropriates $2,000,000 therefor.

2009-A10310 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                BILL NUMBER:A10310

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to create the "Healthy Kids Act" pilot program to
encourage  students to develop healthy eating habits and makes an appro-
priation therefor

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:  Establishes  the  "Healthy  Kids  Act"
Pilot  Program whereby ten school districts would be selected to receive
grants to cover the cost of selling only healthy food in school  vending
machines.

SUMMARY  OF  SPECIFIC PROVISIONS: This bill is a special act to create a
"Healthy Kids" pilot program under which ten school districts  would  be
selected to receive grant money to offset the cost of selling only heal-
thy  food. In the selected districts vending machines could only provide
drinks including but not limited to: fruit based  drinks  that  have  at
least  50%  fruit  juice with no added sweeteners, drinking water, milk,
electrolyte replacement beverages that do not contain more than 42 grams
of added sweetener per serving and only food that complies  with  guide-
lines  established  by  the US, Department of Agriculture for the school
lunch program. In return for complying with these restrictions, selected
districts could use grant money to offset costs associated with  comply-
ing  with  the program requirements such as new vending machines and the
loss of revenue that would  have  been  realized  under  pouring  rights
contracts. Districts would be selected by the Education Department based
on  their  demonstrated  commitment  to encouraging kids to have healthy

diets and the extent to which they represent the financial and geograph-
ic diversity of the state.

CURRENT LAW:   Section 915 of the  Education  Law  limits  the  sale  of
certain  "sweetened  foods"  to  after  the last lunch period. In recent
years several school districts  have  entered  into  exclusive  "pouring
rights" contracts.

JUSTIFICATION: A growing number of our children are over-weight and even
obese.  For  example,  a report released by The Department of Health and
Human Services in October, 2002, concluded that nationwide 15% of  chil-
dren  ages  9-15  are overweight, a tripling of the number of overweight
children from the early 1980's. Obesity puts children  at  greater  risk
for diabetes, cardiovascular difficulties and even depression.

While  few  would  question  the need to establish and encourage healthy
eating habits in our  children,  vending  machines  and  pouring  rights
contracts have provided cash strapped school districts with an important
source  of  revenue  as  they struggle to comply with state mandates and
raise academic Standards. School districts should  not  have  to  choose
between increasing funding and encouraging healthy dieting habits.

It  is  important  for  the  state not only to recognize the danger that
unhealthy eating poses to  children  but  to  realistically  help  those
schools  that can not afford to stop selling junk food. This bill estab-
lishes a Pilot Program so that New York can begin to  analyze  the  most

cost  effective way to expose our kids to healthy food at school.  Grant
money would be used to provide a  financial  incentive  for  up  to  ten
school districts that agree to sell only healthy drinks such as milk and
bottled  water  and  only  foods  that  comply  with  USDA  school lunch
programs. The program could then be used to ascertain the feasibility of
providing financial incentives to an even greater number of districts.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2008: A.4832; Referred to Education
2007: A.4832; Referred to Education
2006: A.2697; Held for consideration in Education
2005: A.2697; Referred to Education
2004: A.10397-A; Referred to Education
2004: A.10397; amended and recommitted to Education

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:  Approximately $2 million.

EFFECTIVE DATE: 180 days after enactment.

2009-A10310 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  10310

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                             March 17, 2010
                               ___________

Introduced  by  M.  of A. TEDISCO, KOLB, THIELE, CONTE, RAIA, BARCLAY --
  read once and referred to the Committee on Education

AN ACT to create the "Healthy  Kids  Act"  pilot  program  to  encourage
  students  to  develop healthy eating habits and makes an appropriation
  therefor

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  This  act shall be known and may be cited as the "Healthy
Kids Act".
  S 2. The board of regents is hereby authorized and directed to  estab-
lish a three-year pilot program to encourage students to develop healthy
eating  habits  in not less than ten school districts in New York state.
1. School districts may apply, in accordance with criteria developed  by
the  board of regents, to be selected to participate in such program. In
selecting participating school districts, the board shall choose  school
districts that are representative of the geographic and financial diver-
sity  of  the  state,  and have demonstrated a commitment to encouraging
students to develop healthy  eating  habits.  The  pilot  program  shall
commence  in  the  2011-2012 school year. Participating school districts
will be eligible to receive grants,  insofar  as  such  funds  are  made
available by the legislature.
  2.  A  participating  school  district  shall  comply  with all of the
following program requirements:
  a. No beverage shall be sold to students from one-half hour before the
start of the school day until one-half hour after the end of the  school
day, except for the following:
  (i) fruit-based drinks that are composed of no less than fifty percent
fruit juice and have no added sweeteners;
  (ii) drinking water;
  (iii)  milk,  including  but not limited to, chocolate milk, soy milk,
rice milk, and other dairy or non-dairy milk; and
  (iv) electrolyte replacement beverages that do not contain  more  than
forty-two grams of added sweetener per twenty-ounce serving.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD15859-01-0

A. 10310                            2

  b.  No  food  or  snack  item  shall  be sold to students from vending
machines from one-half hour before the start of  the  school  day  until
one-half hour after the end of the school day, unless such food or snack
meets  the  standards set forth in the United States department of agri-
culture's guidelines for the federal school lunch program.
  c.  For the purposes of this subdivision, "added sweeteners" means all
sugars used as ingredients  in  processed  and  prepared  beverages  and
foods, including non-caloric sweeteners such as saccharin and aspartame,
but  not including natural sugars that are contained within the fruit or
fruit juice.
  S 3. Each school district that  is  selected  to  participate  in  the
"Healthy Kids Act" pilot program shall be eligible to receive a grant to
offset  the  costs  of developing and adopting policies pursuant to this
act. The grants shall be a one-time grant and shall be used  to  provide
funding  for  approved  vendor  contracts;  assist  in  the purchase and
conversion of vending machines; and to offset the economic loss, if any,
suffered by  districts  no  longer  authorized  to  enter  into  certain
contracts related to the sale of food and soft drinks.
  S  4.  The sum of two million dollars ($2,000,000), or so much thereof
as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated to the education  department
out  of any moneys in the state treasury in the general fund, not other-
wise appropriated, and made immediately available, for  the  purpose  of
carrying out the provisions of this act. Such moneys shall be payable on
the  audit and warrant of the state comptroller on vouchers certified or
approved by the commissioner of education in the  manner  prescribed  by
law.
  S 5. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
it shall have become a law; provided, however, that effective immediate-
ly,  the  addition,  amendment  and/or  repeal of any rule or regulation
necessary for the implementation of this act on its  effective  date  is
authorized  and  directed  to  be  made  and completed on or before such
effective date.

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Assembly Bill A10310

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Sponsored By

TEDISCO

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Assembly Committee

co-Sponsors

Brian Kolb

Fred Thiele

James Conte

Andrew Raia

2009-A10310 (ACTIVE) - Details

2009-A10310 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2009-A10310 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2009-A10310 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments