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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1981 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 185
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
Bradley H. Jones, Jr. and Hannah Kane
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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act relative to the healthy incentives program.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Bradley H. Jones, Jr.20th Middlesex1/17/2023Hannah Kane11th Worcester1/19/2023Nicholas A. Boldyga3rd Hampden1/26/2023F. Jay Barrows1st Bristol1/26/2023Paul K. Frost7th Worcester1/31/2023Kimberly N. Ferguson1st Worcester1/31/2023Paul McMurtry11th Norfolk2/15/2023Ryan C. FattmanWorcester and Hampden2/25/2023 1 of 2
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1981 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 185
By Representatives Jones of North Reading and Kane of Shrewsbury, a petition (accompanied by
bill, House, No. 185) of Bradley H. Jones, Jr., Hannah Kane and others relative to establishing a
healthy incentives program for the purpose of ensuring the needs of SNAP recipients and
farmers. Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 233 OF 2021-2022.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
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An Act relative to the healthy incentives program.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. The department of transitional assistance and the department of agricultural
2resources shall jointly select a state-wide organization, which engages with both SNAP
3recipients and Massachusetts farmers, to conduct a survey regarding the healthy incentives
4program for the purpose of ensuring that said program is best meeting the needs of both
5consumers and farmers, and to inform future outreach efforts about the program. The survey
6shall be distributed to both participants and non participants of the program.
7 The survey shall collect information about the healthy incentives program from
8Massachusetts farmers and SNAP recipients, including, but not limited to: 2 of 2
9 (i) The knowledge that both participants and non participants have about the healthy
10incentives program including, but not limited to, the purpose and benefits of the program, and
11where and how the benefits of the program can be utilized;
12 (ii) the frequency with which participants utilize the program;
13 (iii) how and where participants learned about the program;
14 (iv) any barriers that both participants and non participants experience when trying to
15utilize the program;
16 (v) and feedback from both participants and non participants regarding their experiences
17with the program.
18 SECTION 2. The commissioners of the Massachusetts department of transitional
19assistance and the department of agricultural resources shall establish rules and procedures,
20including deadlines for dissemination and collection of survey information, consistent with the
21purposes of this act, and shall promote the effective solicitation to achieve the highest practical
22response rate, collection, and publication of information gathered from the commonwealth’s
23farmers and SNAP recipients regarding their experiences with and knowledge of the healthy
24incentive’s program. The commissioners shall ensure that the survey is conducted no later than
2512 months within the passage of this act. The commissioners shall also ensure that the results of
26the survey are published on their department’s websites, and submitted to the clerks of the house
27and senate within 12 months of the passage of this act.