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Senate File 1348: Lawmakers hear pleas to fund regional food banks as demand climbs; amendment adopted, bill laid over
Summary
Senate File 1348 would establish a regional food bank grants program and appropriate $10 million per year to the state's six regional food banks (and participating tribal nations); the committee adopted an author's technical A1 amendment and laid the bill over.
Senate File 1348, presented by Senator Bolden on Feb. 19, would establish a regional food bank grants program at the Department of Children, Youth, and Families and appropriate $10 million per year beginning in fiscal 2026, divided among the state's six regional food banks and any tribal nation that chooses to participate.
Nut graf: Food-bank leaders and local food-shelf operators testified that emergency food demand has surged statewide and that predictable statewide funding to regional food banks would stabilize purchasing and distribution, allowing food banks to plan and use bulk purchasing power to stretch state dollars.
Testimony from regional providers illustrated sharp increases in use: Dom Korbel of Community Pathways in Steele County said visits rose 43% in 2024 versus 2023 and that his food shelf distributed 2.3 million pounds of food. Virginia Witherspoon, executive director of Channel One Regional Food Bank in Rochester, said Channel One distributed 18.9 million pounds of food in 2024, up 35% from 2023, and warned of falling corporate and national donations that make state support critical.
Other testifiers from North Country Food Bank and the Lonsdale Area Food Shelf described similar double-digit increases in distribution and rising costs. Bolden told the committee the program would allow food banks to source and distribute food to food shelves at no cost to those shelves, using an allocation formula among the six regional banks.
Votes/procedure: The committee adopted an A1 technical amendment offered by the author and laid SF 1348 over for possible inclusion.
Ending: Supporters urged stable, recurring funding to avoid year-to-year deficits and to give regional food banks planning certainty as demand continues to rise.
Votes at a glance: A1 amendment — moved by Senator Bolden; outcome: adopted (voice). Final disposition in committee: laid over for possible inclusion.
