as introduced - 88th Legislature (2013 - 2014) Posted on 03/21/2014 08:43am
A bill for an act
relating to human services; establishing the Healthy Eating, Here at Home
program; appropriating money; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota
Statutes, chapter 256E.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
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The Healthy Eating, Here at Home program is
established to provide incentives for low-income Minnesotans to use Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for healthy purchases at Minnesota-based
farmers' markets.
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(a) The definitions in this subdivision apply to this section.
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(b) "Healthy Eating, Here at Home program" means a program administered by the
commissioner of human services to provide incentives for low-income Minnesotans to use
SNAP benefits for healthy purchases at Minnesota-based farmers' markets.
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(c) "Healthy purchases" means fruit, vegetables, or meat available for purchase at a
Minnesota-based farmers' market.
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(d) "Minnesota-based farmers' market" means a physical market located within the
borders of the state of Minnesota.
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(e) "Voucher" means a physical or electronic credit.
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(f) "Eligible household" means an individual or family that is determined to be
eligible for SNAP.
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The commissioner shall allocate grant funds to nonprofit
organizations that work with Minnesota-based farmers' markets to provide vouchers to
SNAP participants who use electronic benefits transfer (EBT) cards for healthy purchases.
The commissioner must award grants based on a plan for voucher distribution submitted
to the commissioner by a nonprofit organization that must equitably distribute funds to
achieve geographic balance. The plan must document the organization's capacity to manage
programming and outreach and must document specific efforts by the organization to
reach eligible households comprised of seniors and eligible households in rural Minnesota.
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To be eligible for a Healthy Eating,
Here at Home voucher, an eligible household must meet the federal SNAP eligibility
requirements.
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An eligible household may use
a voucher toward healthy purchases at Minnesota-based farmers' markets. Every eligible
household that receives a voucher must be informed of the allowable uses of the voucher.
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The nonprofit organizations that receive grant funds
must report annually to the commissioner with information regarding the operation of the
program, including the number of vouchers issued and the number of people served. To
the extent practicable, the nonprofit organizations must report on detailed usage of the
vouchers and must evaluate program effectiveness.
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$500,000 in fiscal year 2015 is appropriated from the general fund to the
commissioner of human services for the Healthy Eating, Here at Home program under
section 1.
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