Healthy California Fund.

Existing law provides for 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 Healthy California 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 related to 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. The bill would create the Healthy California Fund Oversight Committee, to advise the affected state departments in implementing the bill's requirements. Among other requirements, the committee would evaluate programs and interventions funded under the bill and report to the Legislature annually regarding programs funded by the Healthy California Fund. The committee would produce a comprehensive master plan for implementing diabetes and obesity prevention programs throughout the state, increase healthy eating and active living, reduce food insecurity, and promote sustainable, healthy, resilient communities. 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 include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature.