Amend CSSB 25 (house committee report) by adding the following appropriately numbered SECTION to the bill and renumbering subsequent SECTIONS of the bill accordingly:
SECTION ____. Subchapter D, Chapter 431, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Section 431.0817 to read as follows:
Sec. 431.0817. FOOD ACCESS IN DESIGNATED FOOD DESERTS. (a) The department shall identify census tracts designated by the United States Department of Agriculture as a food desert.
(b) The department shall:
(1) provide technical assistance and grants to a food service establishment, retail food store, mobile food unit, temporary food service establishment, or roadside vendor operating in a food desert identified under Subsection (a) to support compliance with food labeling requirements under this chapter;
(2) coordinate with the Texas Department of Agriculture and any other necessary agency to develop a mitigation plan to preserve food access in identified food deserts;
(3) provide a report to the legislature each year on the impact of labeling requirements on the availability and affordability of food in food deserts; and
(4) notwithstanding Section 431.0815, allow a food service establishment, retail food store, mobile food unit, temporary food service establishment, or roadside vendor operating in a food desert identified under Subsection (a) to come into compliance with labeling requirements under Section 431.0815 beginning January 1, 2028.
(c) This section does not affect the attorney general's ability to enforce a violation under Section 431.0816, except as provided by Subsection (b)(4).