[First Reprint]

SENATE, No. 3403

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

219th LEGISLATURE

 

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 4, 2021

 


 

Sponsored by:

Senator  VIN GOPAL

District 11 (Monmouth)

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Directs Department of Agriculture to request annual funding for food banks or organizations operating them and requires distribution of grants based upon percentage of food insecure households served; establishes fund therefor.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As reported by the Senate Economic Growth Committee on March 11, 2021, with amendments.

  


An Act concerning food banks and supplementing Title 4 of the Revised Statutes.

 

     Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

      1.   a.  The Secretary of Agriculture shall develop, establish, and implement a food bank funding program to provide consistent, ongoing funding of grants to food banks and organizations operating food banks in the State that provide food to food insecure households in the State.

      b.   The secretary, in consultation with the Commissioner of Health, shall:

      (1)  establish a definition of the term “food insecure household;” and

      (2)  determine annually the total number of food insecure households in the State, the percentage of food insecure households in the State served by individual food banks, and the organization that operates each food bank, if any.

      c.   1[Based on the number of food insecure households served by each food bank or each organization through a food bank in the State as a percentage of the total number of food insecure households in the State, the secretary shall determine the amount of funding to allocate as grants to each food bank or organization, as appropriate,] The secretary, in consultation with the food banks and organizations operating food banks, shall determine a fair, equitable, and appropriate funding formula by which to determine the amount of funding to allocate grants to each food bank or organzation1 from the “Food Insecurity Fund,” established pursuant to section 2 of this act, and subject to the approval of the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting.

      d.   When allocating grant funding pursuant to subsection c. of this section, the secretary shall allocate the amount of grant funding 1[proportionally to the percentage of food insecure households served, with the largest amount of grant funding being allocated to the food banks or organizations serving the highest percentages of food insecure households in the State.  The secretary may determine the number of food banks or organizations to receive grant funding based on the amount of available funding.] based on the formula determined by the secretary in consultation with the food banks and organizations, but shall not exceed the amount of available funding in the “Food Insecurity Fund.”1

      e.   Any food bank or organization receiving grant funding pursuant to this section shall use the moneys only for providing food to food insecure households.  A food bank or organization may not use any grant moneys for administrative costs but an individual food bank or organization may use 1[, as determined by the Department of Agriculture,]1 a reasonable percentage of the moneys it receives pursuant to this section, for the costs of distributing food to food insecure households.

      f.    The department shall annually request funding for the food bank funding program as part of its annual budget request. The department shall provide grants pursuant to this section in an amount up to the balance of the funds in the Food Insecurity Fund in each State fiscal year.

      g.   1[The department may solicit and collect donations for the support of the food bank funding program.  The department shall deposit in the “Food Insecurity Fund,” established pursuant to section 2 of this act, any monetary donations received for the food bank funding program. 

      h.   ]1 The department, in consultation with the State Treasurer and the Commissioner of Health, and pursuant to the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.610 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall adopt any rules and regulations necessary to implement this act.

 

      2.   a.  There is established in the Department of Agriculture a special non1-1lapsing fund to be known as the "Food Insecurity Fund." The fund shall be administered by the Secretary of Agriculture and shall be credited with moneys appropriated by the Legislature for the purposes of this act 1[and any monetary donations received for support of the food bank funding program]1.

      b.   Moneys in the fund shall be used by the Department of Agriculture solely for funding grants to food banks or organizations providing food to food insecure households in the State pursuant to section 1 of this act.  The Department of Agriculture shall not use any moneys in the fund for administrative costs of the department.

      1c.  All food banks and organizations operating food banks in the State shall be eligible for grant support from the fund.1 

 

     3.    This act shall take effect immediately.