Healthy Food Access for All Americans Act
Bill journey · stage 2 of 5
Under committee review
What it doesSummary introduced in house (Nov 6, 2017)
Healthy Food Access for All Americans Act
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow tax credits and grants for activities that provide access to healthy food in food deserts.
A food desert must be more than 1 mile away from a grocery store in a metropolitan area or more than 10 miles away outside of a metropolitan area. It must also meet population requirements and have either a poverty rate of at least 20% or a median family income that does not exceed 80% of the median for the state or metropolitan area.
For entities that are certified by the Department of the Treasury as special access food providers using specified criteria, the bill allows tax credits for operating a new grocery store or renovating an existing grocery store in a food desert. The bill also authorizes grants for a portion of: (1) the construction costs of building a permanent food bank in a food desert, and (2) the annual operating costs of temporary access merchants (mobile markets, farmers markets, and food banks).
Treasury, in coordination with the Department of Agriculture (USDA), must annually allocate the tax credits and grants to special access food providers. Grants authorized by this bill are not considered gross income for tax purposes.
The bill also amends the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to require USDA to update the Food Access Research Atlas at least annually to account for food retailers that are placed in service during that year.
What just happenedDec 5, 2017
Referred to the Subcommittee on Nutrition.
Who’s behind it
- Introduced in HouseNov 6, 2017
- Dec 5, 2017Committee
Referred to the Subcommittee on Nutrition.
Nutrition, Foreign Agriculture, and Horticulture - Nov 6, 2017IntroReferralH11100
Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Agriculture Committee - Nov 6, 2017IntroReferralH11100
Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Ways and Means Committee - Nov 6, 2017IntroReferralIntro-H
Introduced in House
- Nov 6, 2017IntroReferral1000
Introduced in House