Florida Senate - 2021                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 1768
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì410858DÎ410858                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  03/17/2021           .                                
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       The Committee on Agriculture (Rouson) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Section 287.082, Florida Statutes, is amended to
    6  read:
    7         287.082 Commodities manufactured, grown, or produced in
    8  state given preference.—Whenever two or more competitive sealed
    9  bids are received, one or more of which relates to commodities
   10  manufactured, grown, or produced within this state, and whenever
   11  all things stated in such received bids are equal with respect
   12  to price, quality, and service, the commodities manufactured,
   13  grown, or produced within this state shall be given preference.
   14         Section 2. Section 287.0823, Florida Statutes, is created
   15  to read:
   16         287.0823Commodities grown or produced in state given
   17  preference.—
   18         (1)It is the goal of the state that by 2030, 15 percent of
   19  all food commodities purchased by state agencies, Florida
   20  College System institutions, and state universities shall be
   21  grown or produced within this state.
   22         (2)(a)Notwithstanding any other provision of this section,
   23  and to the extent permitted by federal law, such state agencies,
   24  institutions, and universities, when purchasing food
   25  commodities, shall give preference to food commodities grown or
   26  produced within this state.
   27         (b)As used in this section, the term “food commodities”
   28  means any agricultural, apicultural, aquacultural,
   29  floricultural, horticultural, viticultural, and vegetable
   30  products produced in this state or any class, variety, or use
   31  thereof, in their natural state or as processed by a producer
   32  for the purpose of marketing the product or by a processor,
   33  including, but not limited to, all agricultural products;
   34  livestock and livestock products; poultry and poultry products;
   35  fish and seafood; and products of the farms, waters, and forests
   36  of this state.
   37         (3)When a purchasing agreement, state term contract, or
   38  contract for the purchase of food commodities is to be awarded
   39  to the lowest responsive and responsible vendor, an otherwise
   40  qualified vendor who will fulfill the contract through the use
   41  of food commodities grown or produced within this state may be
   42  given preference over other vendors, provided that the price
   43  included in the bid, proposal, or reply for the food commodities
   44  grown or produced within this state is not more than 10 percent
   45  greater than the price included in a bid, proposal, or reply
   46  that is for food commodities grown or produced outside of this
   47  state.
   48         (4)All state agencies, Florida College System
   49  institutions, and state universities that purchase food
   50  commodities shall cooperate with the department in establishing
   51  a reporting system for identifying the percentage of purchased
   52  food commodities that are grown or produced within this state.
   53  Beginning with the 2021-2022 fiscal year, such state agencies,
   54  institutions, and universities shall report their compliance
   55  with this section for the preceding fiscal year to the Governor,
   56  the Cabinet, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the
   57  House of Representatives on or before November 1 of each year.
   58  The report must contain, at a minimum, the following for each
   59  state agency, Florida College System institution, and state
   60  university:
   61         (a)Total expenditures for, and quantity of, food
   62  commodities purchased.
   63         (b)Total expenditures for, and quantity of, food
   64  commodities purchased that were grown or produced within this
   65  state.
   66         (c)Total expenditures for food commodities grown or
   67  produced outside of this state.
   68         (d)A statement and assessment of good faith efforts taken
   69  to cooperate with this subsection.
   70         Section 3. Subsections (9) and (10) are added to section
   71  595.405, Florida Statutes, to read:
   72         595.405 School nutrition program requirements.—
   73         (9)To eliminate the reduced-price copayment for school
   74  breakfast meals, the department shall reimburse sponsors for
   75  each breakfast meal that meets the requirements of federal law
   76  and department rules and is served to a student who qualifies
   77  for reduced-price meals, the greater of 30 cents or the
   78  difference between the United States Department of Agriculture
   79  reimbursement rate for a free breakfast and a reduced-price
   80  breakfast.
   81         (10)(a)Beginning June 1, 2022, each school in which 80
   82  percent or more of the students are eligible for free or
   83  reduced-price meals shall implement a program for special
   84  assistance certification and reimbursement alternatives, as
   85  defined by 7 C.F.R. s. 245.2, to provide universal free school
   86  breakfast and lunch meals to all students, unless a sponsor,
   87  after considering public testimony at two or more regularly
   88  scheduled school board or sponsor’s administration meetings,
   89  decides not to implement a program in an eligible school. The
   90  sponsor, its school nutrition director, or other designee shall
   91  attend at least one training by the department regarding the
   92  special assistance certification and reimbursement alternatives
   93  before the decision whether to implement the special assistance
   94  certification and reimbursement alternatives is made by the
   95  school board or sponsor’s administration.
   96         (b)For schools implementing special assistance
   97  certification and reimbursement alternatives, the Department of
   98  Education shall use alternate sources of socioeconomic data,
   99  such as local data collected by the city or county zoning and
  100  economic planning office; unemployment data; local Supplemental
  101  Nutrition Assistance Program certification data, including
  102  direct certification and statistical sampling of the school’s
  103  population using an equivalent income measurement process to the
  104  free and reduced-price application; or Temporary Assistance for
  105  Needy Families data, to establish the income level of the school
  106  population.
  107         (c)A multiplier shall be applied when an alternate source
  108  of socioeconomic data is used to ensure school-level allocations
  109  of Title I, Part A, Basic funds for schools implementing special
  110  assistance certification and reimbursement alternatives are
  111  maintained at the same funding level or higher as the funding
  112  level received from the enrollment surveys and free and reduced
  113  price school lunch data for the 2019-2020 school year.
  114         Section 4. Section 595.421, Florida Statutes, is created to
  115  read:
  116         595.421Agricultural Surplus Purchase Program.—
  117         (1)The Agricultural Surplus Purchase Program is
  118  established within the department to purchase agricultural
  119  commodities from farmers in this state who are unable to sell
  120  their agricultural commodities due to unusually large yields or
  121  disruptions in the market or food supply chain. The department
  122  may consult with food banks or other nonprofit organizations to
  123  establish and implement the program.
  124         (2)(a)The department shall pay fair market value for any
  125  agricultural commodities it purchases from a farmer under the
  126  program.
  127         (b)The department shall donate and distribute any
  128  agricultural commodities purchased under the program to
  129  charitable and nonprofit organizations in rural areas of
  130  opportunity as defined in s. 288.0656(2) and rural communities
  131  as defined in s. 288.0656(2).
  132         (3)The department shall adopt by rule an application
  133  process for farmers and charitable and nonprofit organizations
  134  to participate in the program. The application process shall, at
  135  a minimum, include eligibility requirements and criteria for
  136  prioritizing and selecting applicants.
  137         (4)The department is encouraged to seek funding from
  138  private entities and other governmental entities to fund the
  139  program.
  140         Section 5. Section 595.422, Florida Statutes, is created to
  141  read:
  142         595.422Local Food Pantry Infrastructure Assistance Grant
  143  Program.—
  144         (1)The Local Food Pantry Infrastructure Assistance Grant
  145  Program is established within the department to build food
  146  pantry capacity to facilitate managing donated food, to increase
  147  the availability of perishable food items, and to minimize the
  148  loss of perishable food items before distribution.
  149         (2)As used in this section, the term “food pantry” means a
  150  public or private nonprofit organization that distributes food
  151  to persons and households in need to relieve situations of
  152  emergency and distress.
  153         (3)The department shall establish by rule grant award
  154  requirements, including eligibility, application, and selection
  155  criteria.
  156         (4)The department shall promote and market the program to
  157  food pantries as an opportunity to compete for grant funding.
  158         Section 6. Section 595.802, Florida Statutes, is created to
  159  read:
  160         595.802Healthy Food Access Pilot Program.—
  161         (1)The Healthy Food Access Pilot Program is established
  162  within the department to increase access to healthy and
  163  affordable food by providing grants to support local
  164  governments, transportation agencies, community development
  165  corporations, and nonprofit organizations in implementing
  166  transit system projects that connect low-income and low access
  167  communities in rural areas and throughout this state to grocery
  168  stores, farmers’ markets, and community-supported agriculture
  169  programs.
  170         (2)The department shall adopt rules to implement this
  171  section and may enter into an agreement with a third-party
  172  vendor to administer the pilot program.
  173         (3)Beginning November 1, 2021, and each November 1
  174  thereafter, the department shall submit an annual report to the
  175  Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the
  176  House of Representatives on the projects funded, the geographic
  177  distribution of the projects, the costs of the program, and the
  178  outcomes.
  179         (4)This section is repealed July 1, 2024, unless reviewed
  180  and saved from repeal through reenactment by the Legislature.
  181         Section 7. (1)For the 2021-2022 fiscal year, the sum of
  182  $2,756,801 in recurring funds from the General Revenue Fund is
  183  appropriated to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
  184  Services for the purpose of providing sponsor reimbursements for
  185  breakfast meals pursuant to s. 595.405, Florida Statutes.
  186         (2)For the 2021-2022 fiscal year, the sum of $1 million in
  187  recurring funds from the General Revenue Fund is appropriated to
  188  the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for the
  189  purpose of implementing the Agricultural Surplus Purchase
  190  Program pursuant to s. 595.421, Florida Statutes. The department
  191  may use up to 5 percent of the funds for administrative costs
  192  associated with the program.
  193         (3)For the 2021-2022 fiscal year, the sum of $500,000 in
  194  recurring funds from the General Revenue Fund is appropriated to
  195  the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for the
  196  purpose of implementing the Local Food Pantry Infrastructure
  197  Assistance Grant Program pursuant to s. 595.422, Florida
  198  Statutes.
  199         (4)(a)For the 2021-2022 fiscal year, the sum of $350,000
  200  in recurring funds from the General Revenue Fund is appropriated
  201  to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for the
  202  purpose of implementing the Healthy Food Access Pilot Program
  203  pursuant to s. 595.802, Florida Statutes.
  204         (b)Unexpended balances of appropriations provided for the
  205  Healthy Food Access Pilot Program may not revert to the General
  206  Revenue Fund at the end of the 2021-2022 fiscal year but must be
  207  retained in the Food and Nutrition Services Trust Fund and
  208  carried forward to fund the pilot program in the 2022-2023
  209  fiscal year. Balances of appropriations provided for the pilot
  210  program which remain unexpended on July 1, 2024, shall revert to
  211  the General Revenue Fund.
  212         Section 8. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.
  213  
  214  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  215  And the title is amended as follows:
  216         Delete everything before the enacting clause
  217  and insert:
  218                        A bill to be entitled                      
  219         An act relating to agriculture and nutrition; amending
  220         s. 287.082, F.S.; conforming provisions to changes
  221         made by the act; creating s. 287.0823, F.S.; declaring
  222         that it is a state goal that by a specified date, a
  223         percentage of food commodities purchased by state
  224         agencies, Florida College System institutions, and
  225         state universities will be grown or produced in this
  226         state; requiring such agencies, institutions, and
  227         universities to give preference to food commodities
  228         grown or produced in this state in certain purchasing
  229         agreements, state term contracts, or contracts for the
  230         purchase of food commodities; providing conditions for
  231         such preference; defining the term “food commodities”;
  232         requiring certain of such agencies, institutions, and
  233         universities to cooperate with the Department of
  234         Management Services in establishing a reporting
  235         system; requiring such agencies, institutions, and
  236         universities to report compliance to the Governor,
  237         Cabinet, and Legislature by a specified date each
  238         year; specifying report requirements; amending s.
  239         595.405, F.S.; providing sponsor reimbursements for
  240         certain school breakfast meals; requiring certain
  241         schools to implement a program for special assistance
  242         certification and reimbursement alternatives to
  243         provide universal free school breakfast and lunch
  244         meals; providing an exception; requiring sponsors or
  245         designated sponsor entities to consider certain public
  246         testimony before declining to implement the program;
  247         directing the Department of Education to use specified
  248         data and methodologies to establish income levels for
  249         schools implementing the program; requiring a
  250         specified multiplier to be applied when using certain
  251         data; creating s. 595.421, F.S.; establishing the
  252         Agricultural Surplus Purchase Program within the
  253         Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for a
  254         specified purpose; authorizing the department to
  255         consult with specified entities; directing the
  256         department to purchase, donate, and distribute certain
  257         agricultural commodities to specified organizations
  258         and communities and to adopt specified rules; creating
  259         s. 595.422, F.S.; establishing the Local Food Pantry
  260         Infrastructure Assistance Grant Program within the
  261         department for a specified purpose; defining the term
  262         “food pantry”; requiring the department to adopt
  263         specified rules and to promote and market the program;
  264         creating s. 595.802, F.S.; establishing the Healthy
  265         Food Access Pilot Program within the department for a
  266         specified purpose; requiring the department to adopt
  267         rules; authorizing the department to enter into
  268         agreements with third-party vendors; requiring the
  269         department to submit an annual report to the Governor
  270         and Legislature; providing that the program is
  271         repealed by a specified date unless reenacted by the
  272         Legislature; providing appropriations; providing an
  273         effective date.