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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4153 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 126 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Homar Gómez and Adam Gomez |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act establishing community fridges to address food insecurity. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Homar Gómez2nd Hampshire1/17/2025 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4153 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 126 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Gómez of Easthampton and Senator Gomez, a joint petition (accompanied by |
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| 19 | 19 | | bill, House, No. 126) of Homar Gómez relative to establishing community fridges to address |
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| 20 | 20 | | food insecurity. Agriculture. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act establishing community fridges to address food insecurity. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 SECTION 1. Section 328 of chapter 94 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the fourth paragraph the following new |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3paragraph:- |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4 “Community fridge,” is defined as a working refrigerator in a publicly accessible location |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5in which any person or organization can donate food into or remove food from for the purposes |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6of alleviating food insecurity. Each community fridge shall have a designated manager or |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7managing organization which may include a volunteer, a nonprofit, or a government official |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8designee. This manager is responsible for managing the cleanliness and sanitary condition of the |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9fridge according to the department of public health. The department of public health shall |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10provide advisory guidelines and interpretations for the safe and sanitary storage of such food. |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11The placement of community fridges will be prioritized in areas of high food insecurity, |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12including disproportionately impacted areas and food deserts. If data on food insecurity is 2 of 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13 unavailable, then placement will be prioritized in low-income areas. Further, community |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14fridges shall be equitably distributed throughout each geographic region of the Commonwealth. |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15 SECTION 2. Section 328 of chapter 94 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16Official Edition, is hereby further amended by inserting after the third paragraph the following |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17paragraph:- |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18 No food establishment, as defined in 105 CMR 590 et seq., which distributes or serves |
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| 47 | 47 | | 19food without charge or at a charge sufficient only to cover the cost of handling such food, |
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| 48 | 48 | | 20including open-dated food whose date has passed, shall be liable for civil damages for any injury |
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| 49 | 49 | | 21arising out of the condition of such food; provided, however, that at the time of distribution or |
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| 50 | 50 | | 22serving such food is not misbranded or adulterated or has not been manufactured, processed, |
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| 51 | 51 | | 23prepared, handled or stored in violation of applicable regulations of the department of public |
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| 52 | 52 | | 24health, and provided, further, that such injury is not the result of gross negligence, recklessness |
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| 53 | 53 | | 25or intentional misconduct of the food establishment or any person employed by or under the |
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| 54 | 54 | | 26control of the food establishment |
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