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Committee lays over bill moving $4 million from dairy program to farm-to-school and proposing program changes
Summary
House File 2,785 was laid over after discussion about moving $4 million in unspent dairy funds into the Farm to School program and proposed policy changes to expand school purchases of local food.
The House Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee laid over House File 2,785 after members debated a proposal to reallocate $4 million of unspent dairy program money to the Farm to School program and to alter program eligibility and policy to create school markets for local producers.
Representative Phyllis Vang, the bill’s sponsor, moved the bill and described two main components: reallocating $4 million from a dairy program into the Farm to School (farm-to-institution) program and making policy changes to encourage schools to purchase more local food. Nonpartisan staff explained the dollar change in the draft: a line editing the Farm to School base from $1,275,000 to $5,275,000, reflecting the $4 million transfer.
Kate Seybold, addressing grants data, told the committee that for fiscal year 2025 the department received $1,580,000 in requests from 73 applicants against $1,275,000 in available funding. She said the department intended to award the full amount that is currently available. Members asked whether applicants had been turned away; staff responded that awards were in process and no applicants had been refused to date.
Committee members pressed on several points: whether the department asked for a $4 million increase; whether the reallocating of funds is a one-time move of previously allocated funds from 2023; and whether there are enough local producers who fit the bill’s proposed eligibility to supply up to $4 million in school purchases. Representative Vang said eligibility language was drawn from federal Local Food Purchasing Assistance Grants and acknowledged the program language would need further work.
Representative Lawrence urged caution about moving the full $4 million immediately and suggested the department should specify demonstrated need; Vang said she was open to “right-sizing” the amount. Representative Nelson asked whether the pool of eligible farms would be sufficient; Vang estimated roughly 200 producers had used the federal purchasing grants, but she was unsure whether that count included food hubs.
After questions and no scheduled public testimony, Representative Vang renewed her motion and the committee laid House File 2,785 over for possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill.
