LAW WITHOUT
GOVERNOR'S CHAPTER
SIGNATURE
468
JULY 15, 2021 PUBLIC LAW
STATE OF MAINE
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IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-ONE
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H.P. 503 - L.D. 691
An Act To Support Farms and Address Food Insecurity
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 7 MRSA §219-B is enacted to read:
§219-B. Fund To Address Food Insecurity and Provide Nutrition Incentives
1. Fund established. The Fund To Address Food Insecurity and Provide Nutrition
Incentives, referred to in this section as "the fund," is established in the department to
provide incentives to federal food and nutrition assistance program participants for the
purchase of locally grown fruits and vegetables and to support outreach for and
administration of programs that offer nutrition incentives to participants of federal food and
nutrition assistance programs. The fund is established to match contributions from private
and public sources of up to $50,000 annually to further the purposes of this section. The
fund, to be accounted within the department, must be held separate and apart from all other
money, funds and accounts. Eligible investment earnings credited to the assets of the fund
become part of the assets of the fund. Any unexpended balances remaining in the fund at
the end of any fiscal year do not lapse and must be carried forward to the next fiscal year.
For purposes of this section, "local" means within the State.
2. Fund recipients. An organization based in the State that supports local food
producers, local food production or low-income individuals in receiving food and nutrition
assistance may receive proceeds from the fund upon application with the department. The
department shall prioritize an applicant that has a demonstrated history of incentivizing the
use of federal food and nutrition assistance programs to purchase locally grown fruits and
vegetables or that demonstrates the ability to leverage the proceeds to match or receive
additional funds from local, state, federal or private sources. The department shall
periodically post a request for applications for eligible organizations to apply for fund
proceeds.
3. Report; audit. The department shall require a periodic report from a recipient
under subsection 2 detailing the use of fund proceeds and the federal food and nutrition
assistance programs involved and to ensure that the funds are expended appropriately
pursuant to this section. The department may audit a recipient to carry out the purposes of
this subsection.
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 4. Rules. The department may adopt routine technical rules as defined in Title 5,
chapter 375, subchapter 2 A to carry out the purposes of the fund, including application
criteria and procedures for recipients, disbursement of funds to recipients and for outreach
and administration purposes and reporting and audit procedures for recipients.
Sec. 2. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and
allocations are made.
AGRICULTURE, CONSERVATION AND FORESTRY, DEPARTMENT OF
Fund To Address Food Insecurity and Provide Nutrition Incentives N384
Initiative: Provides one-time funding to capitalize the Fund To Address Food Insecurity
and Provide Nutrition Incentives to be used to match contributions from private and public
sources.
GENERAL FUND 2021-22 2022-23
All Other $25,000 $0
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GENERAL FUND TOTAL $25,000 $0
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