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Committee hears testimony, lays over bills to continue and expand Diaper Bank of Minnesota funding
Summary
The House Children and Families Committee heard testimony on two bills (HF 15,81 and HF 11,58) to continue and increase state support for the Diaper Bank of Minnesota. Witnesses described a large increase in need and requested a funding increase from $1.1 million to $2.2 million to expand statewide distributions.
The Minnesota House Children and Families Committee heard public testimony on two bills to continue and expand state support for the Diaper Bank of Minnesota (DBM) and laid both bills over for possible inclusion in an omnibus package.
Representative Hicks, who sponsored the bills related to diaper access, told the panel that diapers are a basic health necessity and that the Diaper Bank had nearly quadrupled distributions in recent years, from roughly 865,000 to about 2.6 million diapers by the end of 2024 after a 2023 state allocation of $1.1 million. "Diapers and diaper rashes are really sounds simple, but the truth of the matter is when you can't afford diapers you let your children sit in diapers that they shouldn't longer than you would like to," Hicks said.
Amy Smith, advocacy chair for the Diaper Bank of Minnesota board and a social worker, told the committee demand outstrips supply: DBM declined partnership requests from 76 agencies over the past two years and many existing partners report allocations are insufficient. DBM requested increasing state funding to $2.2 million to expand reach and meet current demand.
Local partner Gina San Buenaventura of Way of the Lord Food Shelf in Blaine described using the DBM allocation to give diapers at distribution events and said her site still ran out of some sizes despite the 2023 allocation. She described recent increases in families served and said additional funds would permit the food shelf network to meet more requests from families and new arrivals.
Action: The committee laid over House File 15,81 and House File 11,58 for possible inclusion in a later omnibus bill and agreed to take up more detailed budget and program questions at a future hearing.
Why it matters: Advocates said diapers are a basic hygiene and health need that families cannot always afford; the DBM argued state funding is effective and scalable and requested an increase to maintain and expand statewide access.
What’s next: Committee staff and cosponsors agreed to continue the conversation at a subsequent meeting where detailed appropriation and distribution questions can be addressed.
