CS/CS/CS/HB 1159, Engrossed 1 2024 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb1159-04-e1 Page 1 of 4 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S A bill to be entitled 1 An act relating to food recovery; amending s. 595.420, 2 F.S.; providing definitions; directing the Department 3 of Agriculture and Consumer Services, subject to 4 legislative appropriation, to implement a pilot 5 program to provide incentives to food recovery 6 entities to negotiate the price for fresh food 7 products; providing shipping requirements; authorizing 8 food recovery entities to reject certain fresh food 9 products; requiring the department to reimburse food 10 recovery entities for certain costs; providing 11 reimbursement requirements; requiring the department 12 to submit reports to the Governor and Legislature by 13 specified dates and to adopt rules; providing for 14 expiration of the pilot program; providing an 15 effective date. 16 17 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 18 19 Section 1. Subsection (8) is added to section 595.420, 20 Florida Statutes, to read: 21 595.420 Food recovery; legislative intent; depart ment 22 functions.— 23 (8)(a) As used in this subsection, the term: 24 1. "Current wholesale price" means the wholesale price for 25 CS/CS/CS/HB 1159, Engrossed 1 2024 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb1159-04-e1 Page 2 of 4 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S each fresh food product on the invoice date at the closest 26 shipping point as reported by the United States Department of 27 Agriculture's Market News. 28 2. "Food producer" means an agricultural company, or their 29 associated shipper, that produces fresh food products in the 30 state. 31 3. "Food recovery entity" means a nonprofit association 32 engaged in food recovery and distribution that has a t least 10 33 years of operation in the state and has received a minimum of 10 34 million pounds of perishable fresh food products annually for 35 the last 3 years. 36 4. "Fresh food products" means high -quality fresh fruits, 37 vegetables, proteins, and dairy produced by a food producer that 38 are delivered to their final destination for charitable 39 distribution and meet United States Department of Agriculture 40 commodity standards and grades upon such delivery. 41 (b) Subject to legislative appropriation, the department 42 shall implement a pilot program for food recovery entities to 43 negotiate a discounted price for fresh food products so that the 44 fresh food products can be exclusively distributed for 45 charitable purposes to relieve human hunger in the state. 46 (c) Food recovery entities must negotiate and pay no more 47 than 50 percent of the current wholesale price to a food 48 producer for the purchase of fresh food products. The harvest or 49 processing date and the current wholesale price of each fresh 50 CS/CS/CS/HB 1159, Engrossed 1 2024 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb1159-04-e1 Page 3 of 4 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S food product purchased and the shipment destination must be 51 included by invoice, bill of lading, or other documents from the 52 food producer to the food recovery entity. 53 (d) Food recovery entities may reject any fresh food 54 product that does not meet the quality standards of the food 55 recovery entity. 56 (e) The department shall reimburse a food recovery entity 57 for each negotiated purchase of fresh food products and an 58 additional 5 cents per pound of fresh food products purchased 59 for costs to deliver and distribute the fresh food products f or 60 charitable purposes. To receive reimbursement, a food recovery 61 entity must: 62 1. Certify in writing that: 63 a. The fresh food products meet the quality standards of 64 the food recovery entity. 65 b. The purchased fresh food products will not be sold to 66 wholesale, retail, or secondary markets for monetary gain. 67 c. Each fresh food product was purchased at a discounted 68 price. 69 2. Submit an invoice as prescribed by the department, 70 which includes the following information: 71 a. Shipment date. 72 b. Shipment location by shipper and city. 73 c. Number of packages shipped and the price for each fresh 74 food product. 75 CS/CS/CS/HB 1159, Engrossed 1 2024 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb1159-04-e1 Page 4 of 4 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S d. Total price paid for each fresh food product. 76 e. Total invoice price paid. 77 f. Total pounds shipped by measured weight or by estimate 78 of the fresh food product. 79 (f) The department shall submit a report on the pilot 80 program to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the 81 Speaker of the House of Representatives by January 1, 2025, and 82 by each January 1 thereafter. The report must include a ll of the 83 following: 84 1. Each fresh food product by package size, total number 85 of packages, and average price per package. 86 2. Each fresh food product by total pounds and total 87 average price per pound. 88 3. Total dollars spent on each fresh food product and 89 total dollars spent on all fresh food products. 90 (g) The department shall adopt rules to implement this 91 subsection. 92 (h) This subsection expires on January 1, 2028. 93 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 94