Bill Text: CA SCR93 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Introduced

California Senate Concurrent Resolution 93

Introduced

Bill Title: President Joseph Biden’s goal of ending hunger and increasing healthy eating and physical activity.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-08-31 - Ordered to inactive file on request of Senator Gonzalez. [SCR93 Detail]

Download: California-2023-SCR93-Introduced.html

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Concurrent Resolution

No. 93

Introduced by Senator Hurtado
(Coauthors: Senators Allen, Becker, Caballero, Dodd, McGuire, Portantino, and Skinner)

September 06, 2023

Relative to public health.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SCR 93, as introduced, Hurtado. President Joseph Biden’s goal of ending hunger and increasing healthy eating and physical activity.

This measure would express the Legislature’s support for President Joseph Biden’s goal of ending hunger and increasing healthy eating and physical activity by 2030.

Fiscal Committee: NO

WHEREAS, More than 50 years since the first White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, and Health, the United States has yet to end hunger and is facing an urgent, nutrition-related health crisis, the rising prevalence of diet-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and certain cancers; and

WHEREAS, The consequences of food insecurity and diet-related diseases are significant, far reaching, and disproportionately impact historically underserved communities; and

WHEREAS, Food insecurity and diet-related diseases are largely preventable, if we prioritize the health of the nation. Making progress requires collective, sustained action and mobilization across every segment of society; and

WHEREAS, President Joseph Biden announced a goal of ending hunger and increasing healthy eating and physical activity by 2030 so fewer Americans experience diet-related diseases while reducing related health disparities; and

WHEREAS, The Biden-Harris Administration National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition and Health identifies ambitious and achievable actions, across five pillars, to advance the President’s goal to address hunger and diet-related diseases; and

WHEREAS, The President’s strategy calls for improving food access and affordability, including by advancing economic security, increasing access to free and nourishing school meals, providing Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (Summer EBT) to more children, and expanding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) eligibility to more underserved populations; and

WHEREAS, The President’s strategy calls for integrating nutrition and health, including by working with Congress to pilot coverage of medically tailored meals in Medicare, testing Medicaid coverage of nutrition education and other nutrition supports using Medicaid Section 1115 demonstration projects, and expanding Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries’ access to nutrition and obesity counseling; and

WHEREAS, The President’s strategy calls for empowering all consumers to make and have access to healthy choices, including by proposing to develop a front-of-package labeling scheme for food packages, proposing to update the nutrition criteria for the “healthy” claim on food packages, expanding incentives for fruits and vegetables in SNAP, facilitating sodium reduction in the food supply by issuing longer-term, voluntary sodium targets for industry, and assessing additional steps to reduce added sugar consumption, including potential voluntary targets; and

WHEREAS, The President’s strategy calls for supporting physical activity for all, including by expanding the United States Department of Health and Human Services’ federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) State Physical Activity and Nutrition Program to all states and territories, investing in efforts to connect people to parks and other outdoor spaces, and funding regular updates to and promotion of the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans; and

WHEREAS, The President’s strategy calls for enhancing nutrition and food security research, including by bolstering funding to improve metrics, data collection, and research to inform nutrition and food security policy, particularly on issues of equity and access; and implementing a vision for advancing nutrition science; and

WHEREAS, The federal government cannot end hunger and reduce diet-related diseases alone. The private sector, state, tribal, local, and territory governments, academia, and nonprofit and community groups must act as well. The President’s strategy details “Calls to Action” for all these entities to do their part. Taken together, these collective efforts will make a difference and move us closer to achieving the 2030 goal; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature supports President Joseph Biden’s goal of ending hunger and increasing healthy eating and physical activity by 2030; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.