WEST virginia legislature

2022 regular session

Introduced

House Bill 4702

By Delegate Lovejoy

[Introduced February 15, 2022; Referred to the Committee on Government Organization then Finance]

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by creating thereto a new article, designated §5-1F-1, §5-1F-2, §5-1F-3, §5-1F-4 and §5-1F-5, all relating to establishing a state office to promote community food security; establishing the office within the Governor’s Office; providing that that office coordinate all state recourses and any federal and private grants for promoting food security in the state; providing findings for creation of the office; providing directives for the office relating to enhancing food security in this state; creating an advisory board; providing for county offices to coordinate local resources; and providing for the creation of a special revenue account.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

Article 1F. Community Food Security.

§5-1F-1. Findings and purpose.

West Virginia has one of the highest food insecurity rates in the country, yet despite hundreds of millions worth of federal food assistance dollars distributed in various forms across the state each year, accessing nutritious food on a regular basis remains difficult for many of our citizens. Fifteen different federal nutrition assistance programs are administered by four separate state administrative agencies. These lack the integration necessary to maximize their effectiveness at the local level, both in terms of their contribution to the state’s economy and the wellbeing of our communities. Furthermore, most of this nutrition assistance funding is captured by out-of-state food businesses. Community-driven initiatives that improve food access while enhancing the viability of West Virginia’s food and farm sector are largely dependent on intermittent and competitive funding for their programs. Thus, it is difficult for the organizations administering healthy food access programs and public officials working to improve food access across their jurisdictions, to engage in long-term planning around community food security in the state.

The purpose of this article is to establish a centralized office that can organize community food initiatives on a county level, coordinate and facilitate between all the resources available to the state and make sure the state maximizes its resources to assist all state residents suffering from food insecurity.

§5-1F-2. Creation of the Office of Community Food Security.

(a) There is hereby created the “Office of Community Food Security” within the Office of the Governor. The office shall be administered by a person appointed to the position by the Governor who is vested with the authority to assist state agencies and oversee and coordinate nutrition assistance programs currently administered by all states and local government agencies.

(b) The Office of Community Food Security shall assure coordination and continuity by overseeing all state and local agencies within the state that administer nutrition assistance, food distribution, farming practices and other food resourcing activities to facilitate food security and distribution. These include, without limitation, all existing programs administered by the Department of Health and Human Resources, the Department of Agriculture, Department of Education, and any other state or local governmental agency or unit that has authority associated with facilitating the reduction of food insecurity and nutrition.

(c)  The Governor shall appoint the Community Food Security Advisory Board to develop and approve state-level community food security plans and advise the director of the office in the implementation of those plans. The Advisory Board shall consist of persons knowledgeable of food security issues in the state and shall include but not be limited to persons who have lived with food insecurity, persons representing emergency food agencies, state farmers, state food retailers, agricultural and nutrition extension agencies, food system researchers and all state agencies administering nutrition assistance programs. The Director of the Office of Community Food Security shall serve as ex officio chair of the board. Members of the board are not entitled to compensation for services performed as members; however each member is entitled to reimbursement for reasonable expenses incurred in the discharge of their official duties. All expenses incurred by members shall be paid in a manner consistent with guidelines of the Travel Management Office of the Department of Administration and are payable solely from the funds of the Department of Commerce or from funds appropriated for that purpose by the Legislature.

§5-1F-3. Powers and duties of Office.

The Office of Community Food Security shall:

(a) Work and engage directly with low-income households to understand and prioritize their long-term nutrition and food access needs;

(b)  Support development of multi-sectional community food security plans at the municipal and county levels that integrate with state-level nutrition assistance and community food security investments;

(c) Maintain a date repository of all federal, private and state administered nutrition assistance programs to serve the information needs of municipalities, counties, school districts, hunger relief originations, food and farm businesses, agriculture development organizations, social service and health care providers, academic researchers and others engaged in advancing community food security initiatives;

(d) Support and assist grant application processes related to community food security for in-state providers and agencies;

(e) Coordinate communication with and between all public agencies administering nutrition assistance programs, private business and non-profit organizations such as foodbanks engaged in improving good access;

(f) Collaborate with research organizations and universities to monitor ongoing gap analysis and identify areas underserviced by current programs;

(g) Collaborate with state agencies and community partners to integrate public nutrition assistance programming with emergent food system development opportunities;

(h) Invest in community food system projects that improve access to food while enhancing the viability of West Virginia’s food and farm sector; and

(i) Provide support in coordinating assistance to address food insecurity during federal or state declared emergencies.

§5-1F-4. County and regional offices.

The Office of Community Food Security shall establish county community-based offices in each county, known as County Food Security Offices, to serve as localized community food security resource coordination. Each County Food Security Office shall serve to facilitate distribution of federal and private grants and support, and provide state resources to local agencies, communities, food banks, schools, churches, non-profits and other benevolent institutions who partner to promote and enhance food security and nutrition in our state. The County Food Security Office shall coordinate staffing and activities of state agencies and of local food providers and engage in long-term planning in support of community food security.

§5-1F-5. Creation of Community Food Security Fund.

A special revenue fund named the Community Food Security Fund is hereby created which shall consist of all moneys made available for the purposes of this article and include any amounts to be deposited in the fund, including all appropriations to the fund, all interest earned from investment of the fund, and any gifts, grants, or contributions received by the fund. All amounts deposited in the fund shall be used to fund the activities awarded by the Office of Community Food Security and County Community Food Security Offices as provided pursuant to the provisions of this article to local governmental units and private and public entities for the public purposes as provided for in this article.

NOTE: This bill establishes within the Office of Governor the state Office of Community Food Security to provide coordination and cooperation between state agencies that provide food security services. The bill assists in directing federal and private funds to maximize their benefit in the state. The bill provides that the office establish county offices to assist and coordinate local agencies and entities that are food providers. Finally, the bill provides all of this with the purpose of providing a unified state approach to addressing household and state food insecurity issues.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.