BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 1622

By: Giddings

Agriculture & Livestock

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Food banks currently receive their supplies from private donations and surplus grocery store products.  However, donations alone are not enough to sustain food banks because demand has risen substantially in today's economic climate.

H.B. 1622 creates a grant program distributing funds to food banks which will provide children at risk of hunger or obesity by increasing access to nutritious food.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the Department of Agriculture and the commissioner of agriculture in SECTION 1 of this bill.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 1622 amends the Agriculture Code to require the Texas Department of Agriculture, by rule and using funds appropriated for such a purpose, to develop and implement a children's access to nutritious food program to award grants to nonprofit organizations for the purpose of allowing food banks to provide children at risk of hunger or obesity with access to nutritious food outside the school day.

H.B. 1622 establishes that a nonprofit organization is eligible to receive a grant under the program if the organization has at least five years of experience coordinating a statewide network of food banks and charitable organizations that serves each county of Texas, operates a program through a statewide network of food banks that provides children at risk of hunger or obesity with access to nutritious food outside the school day, and submits to the department, in the manner and time prescribed by the department, a detailed proposal for a program to purchase and distribute food using grant money to food banks or other charitable organizations that includes a schedule of projected costs for the program, measurable goals for the program, and a plan for evaluating the success of the program.

H.B. 1622 authorizes the recipient of a grant under the children's access to nutritious food program to use the grant only for the purchase of the following nutritious foods: fresh, frozen, or canned meats that are lean or low in fat content; dry or canned beans; nonfat or vegetarian items; low-fat nut and seed butters; dry-roasted or raw nuts and seeds; eggs; olive oil; canola oil; fresh, frozen, or canned fruits with no added sugar; fresh, frozen, or canned vegetables; juices that contain 100 percent fruit juice; foods that contain 100 percent whole grains; fresh, dry, canned, or ultra-high-temperature pasteurized milk that has a fat content of no greater than one percent; light yogurt; and low-fat cheese.

H.B. 1622 requires a nonprofit organization that receives a grant under the program to report to the department, at regular intervals prescribed by the department the results of the organization's program. The bill requires the report for a prescribed reporting period to include a statement of the amount of food purchased and distributed using grant funds, a statement of the leveraged value of grant funds, a list of specific programs that benefited from grant funds, and a detailed accounting of how grant funds were spent.

H.B. 1622 authorizes the commissioner of agriculture to adopt rules as necessary to implement the children's access to nutritious food program.

H.B. 1622 requires the department to implement the program as soon as possible after the effective date of the bill.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2009.