The Speaker’s Task Force on Childhood Obesity, chaired by Rep. Karen Hurd (R-Fall Creek), has released their legislative package after an extensive statewide tour to hear from key stakeholders in the space. The package includes a number of proposals that would impact public K-12 education, including AB 1016, a mandate requiring schools to offer 3 hours of physical activity per week to K-8 students. The WASB opposes this bill and has serious concerns about the impact it will have on schools and their class schedules. Other bills in the package include, AB 1014 and AB 1015 which would establish and appropriate money for a grant program that awards grants to childhood obesity prevention programs, including those sponsored by public schools. The Assembly Committee on Health, Aging and Long-Term Care will hold a public hearing on all of these bills on Wednesday, January 31st. Read below for more information on these bills.
AB 1016: Physical Activity Requirements
From a Legislative Reference Bureau analysis: “Under this bill, beginning in the 2024-25 school year, public schools, including independent charter schools, and private schools participating in a parental choice program must offer at least 180 minutes of physical activity each week to pupils in kindergarten to eighth grade. Under the bill, physical activity is defined as participation in exercise, sports, recreation, wellness, or fitness activities. The bill specifies that physical activity may occur during recess, physical education class, school-sponsored athletics, or any other school-sponsored activity.”
AB 1014/1015: Grant Program
From a Legislative Reference Bureau analysis: “This bill requires the Department of Health Services, in coordination with relevant state agencies, to award two-year grants to organizations, cities, villages, towns, counties, school districts, or Indian tribes for childhood obesity prevention and management programs.
The bill prohibits DHS from awarding a grant unless the applicant demonstrates that its program includes or will include participation of both a child and the child’s parent or guardian (unless the child is not born or the child is 18 years of age or older), the applicant agrees to provide nonidentifying data on program results and effectiveness, and the applicant contributes matching funds or in-kind services with a value equal to at least 25 percent of the grant amount. The bill requires DHS to prioritize applications in which all of the applicant’s matching funds or in-kind services are provided by nongovernmental entities and then, if sufficient funds are available, applications with the most matching funds or in-kind services provided by nongovernmental entities.
The bill allows DHS to renew a grant at the end of the two-year grant period. If sufficient funds are available, the bill requires DHS to renew a grant at the same amount previously awarded if all of the grant recipient’s matching funds or in-kind services are provided by nongovernmental entities and the recipient has shown to DHS’s satisfaction that the program is effective. The bill allows DHS to renew a grant at a higher amount than previously awarded if the recipient has increased the amount of matching funds or in-kind services provided by nongovernmental entities.
Under the bill, DHS must submit an annual report on the childhood obesity prevention and management program grants to the legislature. The bill also provides an individual income tax subtraction and a corporate income and franchise tax exemption for any amount of money or in-kind services provided to a grant recipient that is used to satisfy the matching requirement under the bill.”
