Bill S.2426

FILED ON: 11/22/2019

SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2426

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-First General Court
(2019-2020)

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An Act relative to an agricultural healthy incentives program.

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

SECTION 1. Chapter 128 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 2E the following section:-

Section 2F. (a)The department of transitional assistance, in partnership with the department of agricultural resources and the department of public health, shall operate a healthy incentives program. The program shall provide that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, established pursuant to the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, 7 U.S.C. section 2011 hereinafter referred to as SNAP, redeemed for fruit and vegetable purchases, either fresh, canned, dried or frozen, by a SNAP recipient at a participating vendor, shall entitle the recipient to receive a matching benefit reimbursed on the recipient’s EBT card, within limits to be established by the department.

(b) There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund, to be administered by the commissioner of the department of transitional assistance, which shall be known as the Massachusetts Healthy Incentives Fund. The Fund shall consist of all revenues from public and private sources as appropriations, gifts, grants, donations, reimbursements from the federal government and grants-in-aid or other receipts to further the purposes of the Fund in accordance with this section.

(c) The department of transitional assistance or its partners may apply for any available federal programs such as Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program administered by the United States Department of Agriculture to provide matching benefits to be deposited in the Fund.

SECTION 2. The department of transitional assistance shall promulgate rules and regulations to implement the program set forth in section 1.