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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2197 FILED ON: 1/15/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 222 |
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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 | | Mindy Domb and Andres X. Vargas |
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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 relative to an agricultural healthy incentives program. |
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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:Mindy Domb3rd Hampshire1/15/2025Andres X. Vargas3rd Essex1/15/2025James C. Arena-DeRosa8th Middlesex3/6/2025Christine P. Barber34th Middlesex3/6/2025Natalie M. Blais1st Franklin3/6/2025Antonio F. D. Cabral13th Bristol3/6/2025Joanne M. ComerfordHampshire, Franklin and Worcester3/6/2025Rodney M. Elliott16th Middlesex3/6/2025Carole A. Fiola6th Bristol3/6/2025Carlos González10th Hampden3/6/2025Natalie M. Higgins4th Worcester3/6/2025Kevin G. Honan17th Suffolk3/6/2025Hannah Kane11th Worcester3/6/2025Christopher M. Markey9th Bristol3/6/2025Samantha Montaño15th Suffolk3/6/2025Brian W. Murray10th Worcester3/6/2025Tram T. Nguyen18th Essex3/6/2025Steven Owens29th Middlesex3/6/2025 2 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire3/6/2025Margaret R. Scarsdale1st Middlesex3/6/2025Danillo A. Sena37th Middlesex3/6/2025Bruce E. TarrFirst Essex and Middlesex3/6/2025Steven Ultrino33rd Middlesex3/6/2025Erika Uyterhoeven27th Middlesex3/6/2025 1 of 3 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2197 FILED ON: 1/15/2025 |
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| 18 | 18 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 222 |
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| 19 | 19 | | By Representatives Domb of Amherst and Vargas of Haverhill, a petition (accompanied by bill, |
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| 20 | 20 | | House, No. 222) of Mindy Domb, Andres X. Vargas and others for legislation to authorize |
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| 21 | 21 | | agricultural healthy incentives program. Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities. |
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| 22 | 22 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 23 | 23 | | _______________ |
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| 24 | 24 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 25 | 25 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 26 | 26 | | _______________ |
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| 27 | 27 | | An Act relative to an agricultural healthy incentives program. |
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| 28 | 28 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 29 | 29 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 30 | 30 | | 1 SECTION 1. Chapter 128 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after |
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| 31 | 31 | | 2section 2E the following section:- |
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| 32 | 32 | | 3 Section 2F. (a) The department of transitional assistance, in partnership with the |
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| 33 | 33 | | 4department of agricultural resources and the department of public health, shall operate a year- |
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| 34 | 34 | | 5round healthy incentives program. The program shall provide that Supplemental Nutrition |
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| 35 | 35 | | 6Assistance Program benefits, established pursuant to the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, 7 |
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| 36 | 36 | | 7U.S.C. section 2011 hereinafter referred to as SNAP, redeemed for fruit and vegetable purchases, |
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| 37 | 37 | | 8either fresh, canned, dried or frozen, by a SNAP recipient at a participating vendor, shall entitle |
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| 38 | 38 | | 9the recipient to receive a matching benefit reimbursed on the recipient’s EBT card, within limits |
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| 39 | 39 | | 10to be established by the department. When expanding the number of participating vendors, the |
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| 40 | 40 | | 11department shall prioritize improving access in areas with limited access to fresh, local produce |
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| 41 | 41 | | 12and that are historically underserved by the program. The department shall collaborate with local 2 of 3 |
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| 42 | 42 | | 13food coalitions and nonprofit groups to develop community outreach strategies that ensure |
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| 43 | 43 | | 14equitable access to, and knowledge of, the program. |
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| 44 | 44 | | 15 (b) There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate |
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| 45 | 45 | | 16fund, to be administered by the commissioner of the department of transitional assistance, which |
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| 46 | 46 | | 17shall be known as the Massachusetts Healthy Incentives Fund. The Fund shall consist of all |
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| 47 | 47 | | 18revenues from public and private sources as appropriations, gifts, grants, donations, |
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| 48 | 48 | | 19reimbursements from the federal government and grants-in-aid or other receipts to further the |
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| 49 | 49 | | 20purposes of the Fund in accordance with this section. |
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| 50 | 50 | | 21 (c) The department of transitional assistance and its partners may apply for any available |
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| 51 | 51 | | 22federal programs such as Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program administered by the |
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| 52 | 52 | | 23United States department of agriculture to provide matching benefits to be deposited in the Fund. |
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| 53 | 53 | | 24 (d) The department of transitional assistance shall, annually on or before January 31, |
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| 54 | 54 | | 25submit a report of the healthy incentives program’s activities to the clerks of the house and the |
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| 55 | 55 | | 26senate, the house and senate committees on ways and means, the committee on children, families |
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| 56 | 56 | | 27and persons with disabilities and the committee on agriculture and shall post the report on the |
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| 57 | 57 | | 28department’s website. The report shall include, but not be limited to: (i) the number of |
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| 58 | 58 | | 29households utilizing the program, including household size, age and racial demographic |
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| 59 | 59 | | 30information; (ii) the number of program transactions; (iii) the number and name of vendors |
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| 60 | 60 | | 31processing program transactions; (iv) a breakdown of the total number of program participants |
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| 61 | 61 | | 32and vendors, by their municipality; (v) the number of vendors, by their municipalities, who |
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| 62 | 62 | | 33applied to be a vendor with the healthy incentives program but were not accepted as a vendor |
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| 63 | 63 | | 34due to funding or administrative shortages; (vi) the department’s efforts, plans and timeline for 3 of 3 |
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| 64 | 64 | | 35identifying geographic areas that are underserved by the program and increasing program |
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| 65 | 65 | | 36activity in those areas, including metrics and factors to be used to make determinations for the |
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| 66 | 66 | | 37addition and siting of vendors; and (vii) any further recommendations to improve the |
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| 67 | 67 | | 38performance of the program. |
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| 68 | 68 | | 39 SECTION 2. The department of transitional assistance shall promulgate rules and |
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| 69 | 69 | | 40regulations to implement the program set forth in section 1. |
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