Key food system bills in the 2021-22 legislative session - Briefing for stakeholders

Briefing for stakeholders

         Key food system bills in the
         2021-22 legislative session

An Act Supporting the Commonwealth’s Farmers
Senator Jo Comerford (SD.1852) / Representative Natalie Blais (HD.2944)

 Farmers in Massachusetts struggle to remain sustainable, on average earning just 96 cents
 for every dollar they spend producing food. They must compete in the global marketplace
 while facing higher input costs, more restrictive regulations, and fewer support resources
 than farmers in other states. Supports from the state can help close that gap.

 •   Creates a “circuit rider” program at MDAR
 •   More fairly sets value of APR purchases
 •   Establishes $3 million Next Generation Farmers Fund to provide education grants
 •   Taxes some processing infrastructure at ag value
 •   Allows non-contiguous parcels to be taxed at 61A rates
 •   Directs MEMA to incorporate food production capacity in disaster planning

An Act regarding a farmland protection and viability action plan

Sen. Anne Gobi (SD.1169) / Rep. Natalie Blais (HD.268)

 Massachusetts has many policies and programs to protect farmland, but no unified plan or
 set of comprehensive goals that they all work to support.
 • Directs EEA to establish a farmland protection and viability advisory commission.
 • Directs commission to develop a farmland plan to establish goals, priorities and recommended actions for farmland protection.
 • Plan will include:
      • inventory of state land in active agricultural production or that is potentially suitable for farming;
      • a review of state agency policies related to the use or lease of land for farming;
      • an analysis of trends and threats related to farmland loss and conversion;
      • recommended revisions to the APR program;
      • analysis of farmland enrolled in a program under chapter 61A;
      • goals and benchmarks related to farmland conversion, farmland protection and farmland access; and
      • recommendations for state policy changes and program funding levels.
 • Would allow state to leverage additional federal land protection funding.

An Act relative to an agricultural healthy incentives program

Sen. Anne Gobi (SD.1179) / Rep. Paul Mark (HD.2939)

 The Healthy Incentives Program leverages federal SNAP funds by incentivizing SNAP
 recipients’ purchases of fresh fruits and vegetables directly from farmers, improving health
 outcomes for vulnerable communities and increasing sales for local farms.

 • Writes HIP into law.
 • Establishes fund for donations and appropriations.

An Act promoting equity in agriculture
Senator Jo Comerford (SD.1036) / Representative Natalie Blais (HD.1661)

 According to the 2017 USDA Census of Agriculture, BIPOC farmers are represented on only
 2.3% of the Commonwealth’s farms, farms that steward just .3% of the land in farming and
 sell just .4% of the market value of agricultural goods in the Massachusetts, despite people
 of color making up 29% of the state’s population.
 • Establishes a commission on agricultural equity, comprised primarily of BIPOC farmers.
 • Commission is charged with developing recommendations to MDAR to more equitably serve socially
   disadvantaged farmers in:
      • grantmaking processes;
      • data collection and dissemination; and
      • policy-setting.

An Act encouraging the donation of food to persons in need

Senator Jo Comerford (SD.385) / Representative Hannah Kane (HD.1204)

 Thousands of tons of edible food is sent to landfills each year because of donors’ concerns
 about liability, and because diverting it to those who need it can be costly.

 • Relieves liability concerns for food donors.
 • Establishes a tax credit for farmers who donate crops.

An Act relative to in-state meat inspection programs
An Act to support infrastructure needs for livestock farmers
Senator Anne Gobi (SD.1705) / Representative Natalie Blais (HD.4085)

 Demand for local meat is increasing, but Massachusetts livestock farmers have severely
 limited options for processing animals.

 • Establishes a state meat inspection program.
 • Ultimate goal of ensuring farmers and MDAR are engaged in program development and
   operations.

An act supporting the Commonwealth’s food system
Rep. Dan Donahue (HD.3588)

 Many state agencies play roles in supporting and regulating the food system, but because of
 limited communication between them some of these efforts are duplicative, inefficient, or
 even contradictory. The launch of the Food Security Task Force as a result of the COVID-19
 pandemic demonstrated the need for such coordination, but that need is not limited to
 times of crisis.
 Establishes a state food system coordinator position.
 New staff member serves in an advisory capacity to all agencies to:
      • coordinate and inventory food security programs;
      • develop and track metrics related to food system goals;
      • identify opportunities to eliminate duplicative efforts and strengthen complementary programs and projects;
      • identify gaps in services and supports and make recommendations; and
      • provide input to help coordinate outreach to underserved communities.

SD519/HD1161: An Act Relative to
Universal School Meals
• Require all schools to make school breakfast and lunch
    available to all students at no charge to the student or
    their family.
•   Require that the cost of providing school meals be
    covered by a combination of federal reimbursement and
    state funding.
•   Encourage schools to maximize federal dollars by
    supporting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
    (SNAP) outreach to families, qualifying more students for
    federally reimbursed free meals.

      WWW.FEEDKIDS.ORG | ACTIONTEAM@PROJECTBREAD.ORG | #FEEDKIDSMA

An Act to Streamline Access to Critical
              Public Health and                   Common Apps to
    Safety-net Programs through Common
       Applications: HD. 1500/SD. 1015             Close the Gaps
     Rep Jay Livingstone, Sen Sal DiDomenico

         HD.1500 and SD.1015 will:
•     Make permanent in law the right to
      apply for SNAP the same time as
      applying for health care.

•     Allow families to apply for DTA cash
      assistance at same time as SNAP. (DTA
      data confirms 22K MA families with
      minor children getting SNAP have $0
      income.)

•     Move toward a common application for
      other needs-based programs like child
      care, housing, fuel assistance.

More information:
Pat Baker Pbaker@mlri.org; Jamie Klufts
jklufts.naswma@socialworkers.org ; Kate Saville
Worrel ksaville@charlesgroupconsulting.com

AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE MASSACHUSETTS HUNGER -FREE
CAMPUS INITIATIVE
      SD1477/HD2969 SEN. HARRIETTE CHANDLER, REP. ANDY VARGAS,
      REP. MINDY DOMB

  • Creates an Office of Capacity Building services within DHE to support public higher
     education institutions in understanding and addressing existing gaps in addressing food
     insecurity on their campuses.
  • Creates a grant program for colleges to:
      • Designate a staff person to focus on food security issues
      • Establish a hunger-free taskforce
      • Help students apply for SNAP and other benefits
      • Host or participate in annual hunger awareness events
      • Establish on-campus food distribution or access to a food pantry
      • Develop meal credit sharing program
      • Create emergency fund to support students in crisis
                                                                                               Laura Sylvester • lauras@foodbankwma.org

AN ACT CONCERNING PUBLIC ASSISTANCE FOR WORKING
FAMILIES AND THE CREATION OF A PILOT PROGRAM TO
ADDRESS THE IMPACTS OF THE CLIFF EFFECT
      SD1025/HD1701 SEN. ERIC LESSER, REP. PATRICIA DUFFY, REP.
      CARLOS GONZALEZ

  • Creates a three-year pilot program for 100 low-income working families or individuals as
     they transition off public benefits, using the MA EITC
  • Provides coaching, mentoring, access to skills training, advancement opportunities,
     financial counseling
  • Creates a savings account for participants up to $10,000 by leveraging the MA EITC
  • Allows people to accept raises/new positions without fear of being worse off financially
     due to loss of benefits
  • Administered by the Economic Development Council of Western MA/Working Cities
     Challenge Group, in collaboration with DTA

                                                                                               Laura Sylvester • lauras@foodbankwma.org

Bill to Establish a Farm to School Grant Program
                           HD. 2698 & SD. 1604
•   Filed by Sen. Lesser & Rep.          Learn more and get involved:
    Pignatelli                           www.massfarmtoschool.org/policy
•   A competitive grant program
                                         Simca Horwitz, Co-Director
    within Dept. of Elementary &         simca@massfarmtoschool.org
    Secondary Education to fund
    infrastructure, training, &
    education
•   Public K-12 and Early Education &
    Care eligible (if participate in
    federal meal programs)
•   Prioritize high need districts

Food & Health Pilot Bills (SD.1547 & HD.2459)
  Reintroduced by Senator Cyr and Representative Denise Garlick Feb. 17th

  Requires MassHealth to create the first multi-tiered Food is Medicine Medicaid pilot in the
 country, testing the impact of offering a suite of 3 nutrition services in 1 health care system
  Possible Eligibility                              Services Provided                     Potential Evaluation Metrics
  Food Insecurity +                                1. Medically Tailored Meals            • Total Health Care Costs
  • Type 2 Diabetes • Hypertension                 2. Medically Tailored Food Packages    • ED Utilization
  • Renal Disease     • Obesity                    3. Nutritious Food Referrals           • Hospital Admissions &
  • Pre-diabetes      • Overweight                    (Produce Prescription)                Readmissions
  • Congestive Heart Failure                                                              • Pharmacy Costs
                                                                                          • Non-clinical Outcomes
  **The legislation creates a Food and Health Pilot Research Commission to assist in the pilot design and evaluation**

Goals of the Pilot
1. Evaluate the impact of offering a suite of nutrition services in one health care institution
2. Expand access to FIM interventions across Massachusetts                                                        Learn More
                                                                                                             FoodisMedicineMA.org
3. Enhance the ability of our health care system to provide appropriate services based on patient need      ksukys@law.harvard.edu

Next Steps for Legislation

 • Bill number and committee assignments
 • Hearings in a few months
 • Cosponsors can sign on now – contact your legislators!
 • Sign on to the Collaborative’s white paper
 • Follow for updates

Questions?

• Slides will be sent to everyone shortly
• Video will be available soon after that
• Collaborative staff are always available for more
  information: contact info at www.mafoodsystem.org