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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 337 FILED ON: 1/8/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 128
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Vanna Howard
_________________
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 establishing a food justice frontline.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Vanna Howard17th Middlesex1/8/2025 1 of 5
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 337 FILED ON: 1/8/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 128
By Representative Howard of Lowell, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 128) of Vanna
Howard relative to establishing a food justice frontline providing compensated work involving
food production, distribution, preparation, or delivery for food insecure residents. Agriculture.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 828 OF 2023-2024.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
_______________
An Act relative to establishing a food justice frontline.
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 General Laws are hereby amended by inserting after Chapter 128A the
2following chapter:
3 Chapter 128B: Food Justice Frontline Program
4 Section 1. As used in this section, the following words shall have the following
5meanings, unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
6 “Department”, the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources.
7 “Food Security Job”, any financially compensated work involving food production, food
8distribution, food preparation, or food delivery for food insecure Massachusetts residents. 2 of 5
9 “Nonprofit Food Security Organization”, a nonprofit corporation or other nonprofit
10organization that has programs which (1) provide land to low- and moderate-income individuals
11for agricultural production, or (2) has programs which provide Food Security Jobs to low- and
12moderate-income individuals, including, but not limited to, food production jobs, food
13distribution jobs, food preparation jobs, and food delivery jobs.
14 “Overburdened Community” means a Census Block Group in Massachusetts that meets
15both of the following criteria:
16 (1) Is at or above the 75th statewide percentile for at least 2 of the following
17Environmental Indicators on the most recent available United States Environmental Protection
18Agency’s EJSCREEN Assessment: (a) PM 2.5; (b) Ozone; (c) NATA Diesel PM; (d) NATA
19Cancer Risk; (e) NATA Respiratory Hazard Index; (f) Traffic Proximity; (g) Lead Paint
20Indicator; (h) Superfund Proximity; (i) Risk Management Plan Facilities Proximity; (j)
21Hazardous Waste Proximity; and (k) Wastewater Discharge Indicator; and
22 (2) has a median household income, as calculated by the US Census Bureau, that is no
23greater than 80% of the statewide median household income, as calculated by the US Census
24Bureau.
25 Section 2. (a) The Department shall create the Food Justice Frontline Program.
26 (b) The purpose of the Food Justice Frontline Program is to fund Nonprofit Food Security
27Organizations to enable them to create new Food Security Jobs and provide those jobs to
28individuals living within Overburdened Communities. The Food Justice Frontline Program is
29intended to create jobs as rapidly as possible after the enactment of this Act, in order to
30immediately address the widespread food insecurity throughout Massachusetts. 3 of 5
31 (c) The Department shall create an application with which Nonprofit Food Security
32Organizations may apply to receive a financial grant, not to exceed $500,000. This application
33shall be known as the Food Justice Frontline Funding Application.
34 (d) No Food Justice Frontline Funding Application shall be considered complete unless
35the applicant: (1) Describes, in detail, the program or programs which the Nonprofit Food
36Security Organization operates that provide land or Food Security Jobs to low-income
37Massachusetts residents; and (2) Describes, in detail, the ways in which the Nonprofit Food
38Security Organization would use funding to create jobs for individuals living within
39Overburdened Communities.
40 (e) The Department shall establish regulations and guidelines regarding the process and
41criteria for approval of a Food Justice Frontline Funding Application. These regulations and
42guidelines shall prioritize Nonprofit Food Security Organizations which demonstrate a clear and
43credible plan to use the funding to quickly create Food Security Jobs for individuals living within
44Overburdened Communities.
45 (f) Nonprofit Food Security Organizations which receive a financial grant under the Food
46Justice Frontline Program must use the entirety of the financial grant money on programs which
47will create Food Security Jobs for individuals living within Overburdened Communities. These
48jobs must pay an hourly wage of not less than the quotient of one divided by two thousand and
49four hundred (1/2,400), multiplied by the statewide per capita income, as calculated by the
50United States Census Bureau.
51 (g) A Nonprofit Food Security Organization may apply for multiple financial grants
52under the Food Justice Frontline Program. 4 of 5
53 Section 3. The Department shall have the power enter contracts, hire employees, hire
54contractors, promulgate rules and regulations, levy fines, adjudicate administrative cases, or take
55any other lawful action in order to implement the Food Justice Frontline Program.
56 SECTION 2. Chapter 128 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after
57section 2E the following section:
58 Section 2F. (a) The Department of Transitional Assistance and the Executive Office of
59Housing and Economic Development shall establish a new program designed to increase public
60awareness of the availability of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Healthy
61Incentives Program, and other similar food access programs for low-income Massachusetts
62residents and food insecure Massachusetts residents. In order to carry out this program, the
63Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development shall work with Massachusetts
64residents under the age of eighteen to promote public awareness of the Supplemental Nutrition
65Assistance Program. The Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development shall
66compensate these Massachusetts residents with a stipend of not less than 15 dollars for every
67hour in which they work to promote public awareness of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
68Program. The Department of Transitional Assistance and the Executive Office of Housing and
69Economic Development shall prioritize working with Massachusetts residents who live in
70Overburdened Communities or Census Block Groups with a median household income that is
71below 80% of the statewide median household income. This program shall be conducted in
72multiple languages in order to ensure that it benefits both English-speaking families and non-
73English speaking families. 5 of 5
74 (b) The Department of Transitional Assistance and the Executive Office of Housing and
75Economic Development shall apply for any available federal programs including, but not limited
76to, the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive Grants administered by the United States Department
77of Agriculture to provide matching benefits to be deposited in the Fund.
78 (c) The Department of Transitional Assistance and the Executive Office of Housing and
79Economic Development shall promulgate rules and regulations to implement these programs.