Assembly Bill A10419

                                BILL NUMBER:A10419

TITLE  OF  BILL:   An act to amend the education law, in relation to the
prohibition of the sale of certain foods in vending machines  on  school
grounds or property

PURPOSE  OR  GENERAL  IDEA  OF  BILL:  To  combat  childhood  obesity by
restricting the availability of foods of minimal nutritional value,

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:  Section 1 amends the Education  Law  by
adding  a  new  Section  915-a  prohibiting the sale of certain foods in
vending machines.   No vending machine on  the  grounds  of  any  public
school or on any public school property shall make available for sale to
pupils  food  and drinks of minimal nutritional value, including but not
limited to the following:

a. Candy including hard candy and chocolate candy, jellies, gums, marsh-
mallow candies, fondant, licorice, spun candy and candy covered popcorn,

b. Carbonated water with added sweeteners,  or  beverages  that  contain
caffeine or sweeteners. However the new section expressly does not limit
on the sale of chocolate mild, flavored mild, soy or rice milk, or juice
with  sweeteners  produced from natural sources, the term "sweetener" is
defined to include any additive that enhances the sweetness of a  bever-
age  including artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, acesulfame K and
saccharin.
              

The terms of any contract entered into between a school district  and  a
business  or  corporation  for the operation of a vending machine or the
granting of exclusive rights shall comply with the  provisions  of  this
section.  If  a  school district is a party to a contract which provides
for periodic renewals, the term of such renewal  must  comply  with  the
provisions of this section.

Section  2  provides that this act shall take effect on July first after
the date on which it becomes law. However, the provisions  of  this  act
shall  not  affect  any contract entered into on or before the effective
date.

JUSTIFICATION: Childhood obesity is too  common.  An  estimated  15%  of
American  children are overweight - three times the number of overweight
children reported in 1980. The primary  causes  are  decreased  physical
exercise  and  increased  consumption  of junk foods and drinks. In some
cases, the change in habits is dramatic. An  article  published  in  The
Lancet  in  2001  found  that  soft-drink  consumptions had increased by
almost 500% over the past fifty years.  Their study found that "the odds
of becoming obese increased  significantly  for  each  additional  daily
serving of sugar-sweetened drinks.

Being  too  heavy  is  expensive as well as bad for you. According to an
article  in  the  Medical  Journal  Pediatrics,  overweight  kids  incur
disproportionate  healthcare costs; over the last twenty years, "obesity

associated annual hospital costs increase more than three-fold, from $35
million during 1979-1981 to $127 million during 1997-1999."

If  we  fail  to  address  this  issue, we will have a future generation
plagues with Type II Diabetes, sleep  apnea,  gallbladder  disease,  and
heart  problems.  Sick  children grow into sick adults, whose healthcare
needs disrupt their families and strain their budgets - or  the  budgets
of our public Medicare and Medicaid insurance programs.

It  is  smarter, cheaper and kinder to prevent childhood obesity than to
treat its complications. As a first step,  we  should  assure  that  our
schools  are  places where children learn to live healthy lives, free of
junk food.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:  A. 5882 and S. 4940 of 2005/2006  A.  6563-B
and S. 5446-A of 2003/2004

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: Potential savings in Medicaid cost.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1st after the act becomes law.