AB 2959: Prisons: food.

Session Year: 2023-2024
House: Assembly
Latest Version Date: 2024-08-15

Current Status:

Failed

(2024-08-28: Ordered to inactive file at the request of Senator Becker.)

Introduced

In Committee

First Chamber

In Committee

Second Chamber

Enacted

Version:

Existing law establishes the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and sets forth its powers and duties regarding the administration of correctional facilities and the care and custody of inmates.

This bill would require the department to require all food items sold in the facility vending machines to be priced at the same average market retail price as in the community in which the facility is located. The bill would also require those facilities to take into consideration research that exists on junk foods and snacks as a cause of obesity in children and families when providing food in the state prison, and to encourage the provision of affordable, fresh, and nutritious food items in prison vending machines and the sourcing of food items from local farmers and producers.

This bill would, commencing January 1, 2028, require the department, in coordination with the Department of Rehabilitation, to ensure food items sold in prison vending machines do not exceed a 35% markup above the average market retail price in the community in which the facility is located.

Discussed in Hearing