California Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children.

Existing law, the California Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC Program) , administered by the State Department of Public Health, provides for the issuance of nutrition coupons, as defined, to certain low-income women, infants, and children who have been determined to be at nutritional risk. The WIC Program, which implements a program authorized under existing federal law, provides for the redemption of nutrition coupons by recipients at any authorized retail food vendor. Existing law provides that a vendor or any person who, among other things, knowingly redeems coupons in excess of the price charged other customers is subject to specified sanctions. This bill would require the department, within 30 days after the department has completed its first investigation, to provide written notice, as prescribed, to a vendor if the department determines that the vendor has committed an initial violation for which a pattern of the violation must be established to impose a sanction. This bill would require the notice to be delivered to the vendor 30 days before the department conducts a 2nd investigation for purposes of establishing a pattern of the violation. The bill would state that it is the intent of the Legislature in enacting these provisions to clarify existing law.