Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman ANNETTE CHAPARRO
District 33 (Hudson)
Assemblywoman VALERIE VAINIERI HUTTLE
District 37 (Bergen)
Assemblyman GORDON M. JOHNSON
District 37 (Bergen)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Benson
SYNOPSIS
Establishes COVID-19 Local Food Pantry Assistance Grant Program in DHS; appropriates $4 million.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act establishing the COVID-19 Local Food Pantry Assistance Grant Program in the Department of Human Services and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. There is hereby established in the Department of Human Services the COVID-19 Local Food Pantry Assistance Grant Program. The program shall award grants to local food pantries in order to provide residents who have been financially affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak with food supply assistance.
b. The Commissioner of Human Services shall develop an application by which a local food pantry may apply for a grant for funding, and criteria by which to rank the applications received by the department. The commissioner shall provide notice of the availability of funding for this program and make the application available on the department's Internet website.
c. A grant awarded pursuant to this section shall be in an amount not to exceed $40,000.
d. As used in this section:
"Local food pantry" means a food bank, food pantry, soup kitchen, or other nonprofit organization that distributes food to individuals in need of assistance, but shall not include a "food bank" as that term is defined in section 2 of P.L.1982, c.178 (C.24:4A-2).
"Nonprofit organization" means an organization incorporated under the provisions of Title 15 or Title 16 of the Revised Statutes of New Jersey, an organization exempt from taxation under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or an entity to which a charitable contribution as defined under subsection (c) of section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code is deductible under section 170.
2. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Human Services the sum of $4 million from a portion of those federal block grant funds allocated to the State from the federal “Coronavirus Relief Fund,” established pursuant to the federal “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act,” Pub.L.116-136, for use by the department to provide grants pursuant to this act.
3. This act shall take
effect immediately and shall expire upon the distribution of the moneys
appropriated by this act.
STATEMENT
This bill would direct the Department of Human Services (DHS) to establish a grant program to distribute $4 million in moneys received from the federal government pursuant to the “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act,” Pub.L.116-136 (CARES act), to local food pantries in order to help people whose incomes have decreased due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The grants would be limited to $40,000 each. Food banks, food pantries, soup kitchens, and other nonprofit organizations that distribute food directly to individuals would be eligible to apply for a grant, but larger food banks that store and supply food to other nonprofits for distribution would not be eligible. Under the bill, the grant program would expire once the $4 million in CARES act funding appropriated by the bill is awarded.