Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

       Florida Senate - 2024                                     SB 112
       
       
        
       By Senator Jones
       
       
       
       
       
       34-00191-24                                            2024112__
                      A bill to be entitled                      
       An act relating to the Healthy Food Financing
       Initiative program; providing a directive to the
       Division of Law Revision; transferring, renumbering,
       and amending s. 500.81, F.S.; redefining the term
       “underserved community”; revising requirements for the
       administration of and participation in the program;
       providing program eligibility requirements for
       nonprofit organizations and revising eligibility
       requirements for community development financial
       institutions; revising the duties of the Department of
       Agriculture and Consumer Services and third-party
       administrators; revising requirements for program
       applicants and projects; revising the purposes for
       which project funding may be used; requiring the
       Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government
       Accountability to review the program and collected
       data after a specified timeframe and provide the
       Legislature with a specified report; specifying that
       program funding is subject to and provided from
       certain appropriations; deleting a prohibition
       relating to funding distribution; amending ss.
       595.401, 595.402, 595.404, 595.408, and 595.501, F.S.;
       conforming provisions to changes made by the act;
       providing an effective date.
        
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

       Section 1. The Division of Law Revision is directed to
rename chapter 595, Florida Statutes, entitled “School Food and
Nutrition Services,” as “Food and Nutrition.”
       Section 2. Section 500.81, Florida Statutes, is
transferred, renumbered as section 595.801, and amended to read:
       595.801 500.81 Healthy Food Financing Initiative.—
       (1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:
       (a) “Community facility” means a property owned by a
nonprofit or for-profit entity in which health and human
services are provided and space is offered in a manner that
provides increased access to, or delivery or distribution of,
food or other agricultural products to encourage public
consumption and household purchases of fresh produce or other
healthy food to improve the public health and well-being of low
income children, families, and older adults.
       (b) “Department” means the Department of Agriculture and
Consumer Services.
       (c) “Independent grocery store or supermarket” means an
independently owned grocery store or supermarket whose parent
company does not own more than 40 grocery stores throughout the
country based upon ownership conditions as identified in the
latest Nielsen TDLinx Supermarket/Supercenter database.
       (d) “Low-income community” means a population census tract,
as reported in the most recent United States Census Bureau
American Community Survey, which meets one of the following
criteria:
       1. The poverty rate is at least 20 percent;
       2. In the case of a low-income community located outside of
a metropolitan area, the median family income does not exceed 80
percent of the statewide median family income; or
       3. In the case of a low-income community located inside of
a metropolitan area, the median family income does not exceed 80
percent of the statewide median family income or 80 percent of
the metropolitan median family income, whichever is greater.
       (e) “Program” means the Healthy Food Financing Initiative
established by the department.
       (f) “Underserved community” means a low-income community
distressed urban, suburban, or rural geographic area where a
substantial number of residents have low access to a full
service supermarket or grocery store. An area with limited
supermarket access must be:
       1. A census tract, as determined to be an area with low
access by the United States Department of Agriculture, as
identified in the Food Access Research Atlas;
       2. Identified as a limited supermarket access area as
recognized by the Community Development Financial Institutions
Fund of the United States Department of the Treasury; or
       3. Identified as an area with low access to a supermarket
or grocery store through a methodology that has been adopted for
use by another governmental initiative, or a well-established or
well-regarded philanthropic healthy food initiative.
       (2) HEALTHY FOOD FINANCING INITIATIVE.—The department shall
establish a Healthy Food Financing Initiative program that
provides grants and loans is composed of and coordinates the use
of grants from any source; federal, state, and private loans
from a governmental entity or institutions regulated by a
governmental entity; federal tax credits; and other types of
financial assistance for the construction, rehabilitation, or
expansion of independent grocery stores, supermarkets, community
facilities, or other retail outlets structures to increase
access to affordable fresh produce and other nutritious food in
underserved communities.
       (3) THIRD-PARTY ADMINISTRATORS; QUALIFICATIONS.—
       (a) The department may contract with one or more qualified
nonprofit organizations or Florida-based federally certified
community development financial institutions to administer the
program through a public-private partnership.
       (b) A qualified nonprofit organization must be able to
demonstrate all of the following:
       1. Prior experience in healthy food financing.
       2. An exemption from taxation under s. 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code.
       3. The ability to successfully manage and operate lending
and grant programs.
       4. The ability to assume full financial risk for loans made
under the program.
       (c) Eligible community development financial institutions
must be able to demonstrate all of the following:
       1. Prior experience in healthy food financing.
       2. Certification by Support from the Community Development
Financial Institutions Fund of the United States Department of
the Treasury.
       3. The ability to successfully manage and operate lending
and tax credit programs.
       4. The ability to assume full financial risk for loans made
under the program this initiative.
       (d) Any third-party administrator that contracts with the
department shall provide quarterly updates to the department.
       (4)(b) DUTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OR THIRD-PARTY
ADMINISTRATOR.—The department or a third-party administrator
shall do all of the following:
       (a)1. Establish program guidelines, raise matching funds,
promote the program statewide, evaluate applicants, make award
decisions, underwrite and disburse grants and loans, and monitor
compliance and impact. The department may contract with a third
party administrator to carry out such duties. If the department
contracts with a third-party administrator, funds shall be
granted to the third-party administrator to create a revolving
loan fund for the purpose of financing projects that meet the
criteria of the program. The third-party administrator shall
report to the department annually.
       (b)2. Create eligibility guidelines and provide financing
through an application process. Eligible projects must:
       a. Be located in an underserved community;
       b. Primarily serve low-income communities; and
       c. Provide for the renovation or expansion of, including
infrastructure upgrades to, existing independent grocery stores
or supermarkets; or the renovation or expansion of, including
infrastructure upgrades to, community facilities to improve the
availability and quality of fresh produce and other healthy
foods.
       (c)3. Report annually to the President of the Senate and
the Speaker of the House of Representatives on the projects
funded, the geographic distribution of the projects, the costs
of the program, and the outcomes, including the number and type
of jobs created.
       (4)(a) The Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government
Accountability shall review the program and data collected from
the department after a term of 7 years and report to the
President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives. The report shall include, but is not limited
to, health impacts based on data collected by the state on
diabetes, heart disease and other obesity-related diseases, and
other factors as determined by the department.
       (b) If the report determines the program to be unsuccessful
after 7 years, the department shall create guidelines for unused
funds to be returned to the initial investor.
       (5) PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS.—Entities that may apply for
funding under the program include A for-profit entities entity,
including a convenience stores store or a fueling stations; and
station, or a not-for-profit entities entity, including, but not
limited to, a sole proprietorships, partnerships proprietorship,
partnership, limited liability companies, corporations,
cooperatives company, corporation, cooperative, nonprofit
organizations organization, nonprofit community development
entities entity, or private universities university, may apply
for financing.
       (a) A program An applicant for financing must do all of the
following:
       1.(a) Demonstrate the capacity to successfully implement
the project and the likelihood that the project will be
economically self-sustaining.;
       2.(b) Demonstrate the ability to repay the loan.; and
       (c) Agree, as an independent grocery store or supermarket,
for at least 5 years, to:
       3.1. Accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
benefits and;
       2. Apply to accept Special Supplemental Nutrition Program
for Women, Infants, and Children benefits. and accept such
benefits, if approved;
       4.3. For independent grocery stores and supermarkets,
allocate at least 30 percent of floor food retail space for the
sale of perishable foods, which may include fresh or frozen
dairy products, fresh produce, and fresh meats, poultry, and
fish.;
       5.4. Comply with all data collection and reporting
requirements established by the department.; and
       6.5. Promote the hiring of local residents.
       (b) The department shall give preference to Florida-based
grocers, local business owners with experience in grocery
stores, and grocers and business owners with a business plan
that includes written documentation of opportunities to purchase
from farmers and growers in this state before seeking out-of
state purchases.
       (6) PROJECT ELIGIBILITY.—
       (a) To be eligible for funding under the program, a project
must:
       1. Be located in an underserved community; and
       2. Provide for the construction of independent grocery
stores or supermarkets; renovation, expansion, and
infrastructure upgrades to stores and community facilities which
improve the availability and quality of fresh produce and other
healthy foods; or other projects that create or improve access
to affordable fresh produce which meet the intent of this
section, as determined by the department or a third-party
administrator.
       (b) Projects including, but not limited to, corner stores,
bodegas, or other types of nontraditional grocery stores that do
not meet the 30 percent floor space minimum in subparagraph
(5)(a)4. may 3. can still qualify for funding if such funding
will be used for refrigeration, displays, or other one-time
capital expenditures to promote the sale of fresh produce and
other healthy foods.
       (6) In determining which qualified projects to finance, the
department or third-party administrator shall:
       (a) Give preference to local Florida-based grocers or local
business owners with experience in grocery stores and to grocers
and business owners with a business plan model that includes
written documentation of opportunities to purchase from Florida
farmers and growers before seeking out-of-state purchases;
       (b) Consider the level of need in the area to be served;
       (c) Consider the degree to which the project will have a
positive economic impact on the underserved community, including
the creation or retention of jobs for local residents;
       (d) Consider the location of existing independent grocery
stores, supermarkets, or other markets relevant to the
applicant’s project and provide the established entity the right
of first refusal for such project; and
       (e) Consider other criteria as determined by the
department.
       (c)(7) A minimum of three eligible projects shall be funded
annually. Financing under this program for eligible projects may
be used for any of the following purposes:
       1.(a) Site acquisition and preparation.
       2.(b) Construction and build-out costs.
       3.(c) Equipment and furnishings.
       4.(d) Workforce training or security.
       5.(e) Predevelopment costs, such as market studies and
appraisals.
       6.(f) Energy efficiency measures.
       7.(g) Working capital for first-time inventory and startup
costs, including seeds and starter plants for residential
produce cultivation.
       (h) Acquisition of seeds and starter plants for the
residential cultivation of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and other
culinary products. However, only 7 percent of the total funds
expended in any one project under this section may be used for
such acquisition.
       8.(i) Other purposes as determined necessary and reasonable
by the department or a third-party administrator.
       (7) PROGRAM REVIEW.—
       (a) Beginning July 1, 2024, the Office of Program Policy
Analysis and Government Accountability shall review the program
and data collected from the department for 7 years and provide a
report to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the
House of Representatives by July 1, 2032. The report must
include economic impact and health outcomes data and other
factors as determined by the department.
       (b) If the report determines the program to be unsuccessful
after the 7-year period, the department must return any initial
funds that have not been loaned, granted, or leveraged in a
revolving loan fund to the General Revenue Fund.
       (8) FUNDING.—The department’s performance and obligation to
pay under this section is contingent upon an annual
appropriation by the Legislature as provided in s. 287.0582. If
the department contracts with a third-party administrator, funds
must be advanced from the department’s annual appropriation to
the third-party administrator in order to implement this
section.
       (9)(8) RULES.—The department shall adopt rules to
administer this section.
       (9) The department may not distribute more than $500,000
among more than three recipients.
       Section 3. Section 595.401, Florida Statutes, is amended to
read:
       595.401 Short title.—Sections 595.401-595.601 This chapter
may be cited as the “Florida School Food and Nutrition Act.”
       Section 4. Section 595.402, Florida Statutes, is amended to
read:
       595.402 Definitions.—As used in this act chapter, the term:
       (1) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Agriculture.
       (2) “Department” means the Department of Agriculture and
Consumer Services.
       (3) “Program” means any one or more of the school food and
nutrition service programs that the department has
responsibility over including, but not limited to, the National
School Lunch Program, the Special Milk Program, the School
Breakfast Program, the Summer Food Service Program, the Fresh
Fruit and Vegetable Program, and any other program that relates
to school nutrition.
       (4) “School breakfast program” means a program authorized
by s. 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, as amended, and
administered by the department.
       (5) “School district” means any of the 67 county school
districts, including the respective district school board.
       (6) “Sponsor” means an