ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Fifty-fifth Legislature

First Regular Session

HB 2668: nutrition assistance; benefit match; appropriation.

Sponsor: Representative John, LD 4

Committee on Appropriations

Overview

Appropriates $1,000,000 annually from the state General Fund (GF) beginning in FY 2022 to the Department of Economic Security (DES) for a Produce Incentive Program (Program).

History

Nutrition Assistance, formally known as the Food Stamp Program, is Arizona's federally funded program run by DES for the U.S. Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Nutrition Assistance supports families to prevent under-nutrition in Arizona.

This mission of SNAP is to provide nutrition benefits to supplement the food budget of needy families so they can purchase healthy food and move towards self-sufficiency. Items that can be bought with SNAP include bread and cereals, meats, fish, poultry and dairy products, vegetable seeds, food-producing plants and roots and trees, infant formula and diabetic foods.

Provisions

1. Appropriates $1,000,000 annually from the state GF in FY 2022 to DES for the following purposes:

a) To plan, prepare and develop necessary infrastructure to implement a Program for SNAP enrollees to purchase eligible Arizona-grown fruits and vegetables at SNAP-authorized farmers markets, farm stands, mobile markets, community supported agriculture sites, grocery stores and convenience stores;

b) To provide matching monies of up to $20 per participating SNAP-authorized site per transaction for a SNAP enrollee to purchase eligible Arizona-grown fruits and vegetables at the participating SNAP-authorized site; and

c) To conduct research and evaluate the Program and the impact of the Program on purchases made by SNAP enrollees and producers of Arizona-grown fruits and vegetables. (Sec. 1)

2. Prohibits the appropriated monies from being spent without matching contributions from federal, local or private sources, or any combination of those sources. (Sec. 1)

3. States matching contributions include monies or in-kind contributions. (Sec. 1)

4. Exempts the monies from lapsing. (Sec. 1)

5. Defines eligible Arizona-grown fruits and vegetables and SNAP. (Sec. 1)

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9. HB 2668

10. Initials EB/IR Page 0 Appropriations

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