SENATE DOCKET, NO. 769        FILED ON: 1/17/2013

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 380

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Michael O. Moore

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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 food trusts.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 769        FILED ON: 1/17/2013

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 380

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Thirteen

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An Act relative to food trusts.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

Chapter 20 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 6C the following 2 sections:-

Section 6D. Food Trust; definitions applicable to section 6E

(a)community development financial institution' means a person (other than an individual) that—

1.has a primary mission of promoting community development;

2.serves an investment area or targeted population;

3.directly, through an affiliate, or through a community partnership, provides development services and equity investments or loans;

4.maintains, through representation on its governing board or otherwise, accountability to residents of its investment area or targeted population; and

5.is not an agency or instrumentality of the United States, or of any State or political subdivision of a State.

6.A subsidiary of a CDFI may only qualify as a community development financial institution if its parent company and the subsidiaries thereof (on a consolidated basis) also qualify as community development financial institutions.

(b)An underserved community shall be defined as a low or moderate income census tract, having an area of below average supermarket density or an area having a supermarket customer base with more than 50% population living in a low income census tract.

Section 6E.  Food Trust 

(a)A Community Development Financial Institution, hereafter referred to as a CDFI, as defined by section 6D of Chapter 20 of the 2010 General Laws, is hereby authorized to develop and implement flexible financing programs, including loans, grants, and technical assistance to support the development, renovation, and expansion of supermarkets, farmers markets, and other retailers selling healthy foods within underserved communities.

(b)The CDFI shall work with existing state and federal agencies such as the Massachusetts Capital Access Program and the United States Departments of Treasury, Health and Human Services and Agriculture to participate in this financing effort, and shall consult with the Food Access Organization to analyze market opportunities in underserved communities, conduct outreach and marketing to food retailers, determine applicants site eligibility, and in the interest of securing grants from private sources of interest.

(c)The CDFI shall work in conjunction with local community colleges and vocational education institutions to develop programs designed to train and educate food sellers respecting the designating and marketing of nutritious foods and to assist in the development of public education programs designed to make the buying public aware of the need for nutritious foods and their identity.

(d)The CDFI serving an “underserved community” as defined by Section 6D of Chapter 20 of the 2010 General Laws, shall cooperate with the Massachusetts Food Policy Council to promote and develop farmer’s market programs within the targeted communities whereby local Massachusetts growers will be given the opportunity to market fresh grown produce, and to educate residents as to the nutritional importance of their product.

(e)A supermarket, farmers market, or food store, in order to be eligible for financial assistance must demonstrate to the CDFI, through regular impact statements, that the applicant is able to provide, a positive economic and social impact to the local community.

(f)Impact statements must be submitted to the CDFI upon application, and no later than February 1 annually thereafter, that includes the positive economic impact provided to the community through job training and employment practices, and shall include information on women, people of color and veteran status of ownership, and full-time employees. An inability of the recipient to show positive economic and social impact can be considered cause for the CDFI to discontinue support.

(g) To the maximum extent practicable CDFI recipients must provide healthy, nutritious food to its customer base, and promote community development by working with other state and local programs. 

(h)The CDFI serving an underserved community shall forward the annual impact reports collected from supermarkets, farmers markets, or food stores to the Massachusetts Food Policy Council, and include the following additional information: 1) the recipients of CDFI benefits, 2) the total amount of money obtained by each recipient, and 3) the number of employees in each supermarket, farmers market, or food store.

(i)The CDFI which services an underserved community shall consult with on a periodic basis the Massachusetts Grocery Access Task Force in the interest of insuring the task force awareness of the CDFI efforts and to seek informational assistance when necessary.