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House Ways and Means committee hears House File 841 on food-assistance funding; bill laid over
Summary
Representative Meyers presented House File 841 on April 30 to the Minnesota House Ways and Means Committee. Members discussed food-shelf operations, a Minnesota statute governing minimum distributions, and potential budget packaging; the committee laid the bill over for further consideration.
Representative Isaac Meyers presented House File 841 to the Minnesota House Ways and Means Committee on April 30 and the committee laid the bill over for further consideration.
“Food insecurity impacts all of our districts from Greater Minnesota to the metro as well as to the suburbs where I live,” Representative Isaac Meyers said in opening remarks. Meyers described the bill as bipartisan legislation intended to help fund and address food insecurity across the state.
Representative Mary Keeler, testifying for the bill, said that food shelves operate in all 87 counties and stated that Minnesota statute requires that a person who uses a food shelf receive about six pounds, or two days’ worth, of food. Keeler added that “last year alone we served over 9,000,000 Minnesotans with food insecurities,” as she put it. The committee transcript records Keeler’s figures and statutory comment as part of her testimony; the committee did not provide independent verification of those numbers in the meeting.
Representative Kaye asked whether the Emergency Food Assistance Program had been affected by federal funding changes; Meyers replied he was not aware of any specific federal impacts and said his focus was on state-level responses. A committee member also noted that the federal program distributes Department of Agriculture commodities to states and that some state-level backfilling might be necessary.
Members discussed that funding for food shelves had been a special item in previous budget agreements and that the work on food in the children and families budget could lead to HF 841 being folded into broader budget negotiations. After questions and discussion, the bill was laid over for further action.
No formal vote on the underlying policy or funding amounts occurred during the committee meeting; the transcript indicates the item was laid over and will be considered in future proceedings.
