SB 948

This bill requires the Department of Health Services, through a competitive

selection process, to contract with one or more nonprofit organizations to administer

a healthy food incentive program statewide. Under the program, FoodShare

recipients who use FoodShare benefits for purchases at an eligible retailer would

receive an amount up to the amount of benefits used at the eligible retailer for the

purpose of purchasing fruits and vegetables from the eligible retailer. FoodShare,

also known as the food stamp program and the federal Supplemental Nutrition

Assistance Program, provides a monetary benefit to individuals who have limited

financial resources for the purpose of purchasing food products. DHS administers

the FoodShare program.

Under the bill, eligible retailers include supermarkets, grocery stores, farmers'

markets, nonprofit cooperatives, and farmers who sell directly to consumers among

other types of food sellers. The retailers must be authorized retailers in the

FoodShare program participating in the healthy food incentive program. The bill

requires a nonprofit organization to prioritize including in the healthy food incentive

program eligible retailers that source fruits and vegetables primarily from

Wisconsin growers. The bill allows DHS to limit the amount of benefits per day that

a recipient is allowed to match through the healthy food incentive program.

The bill limits the percent of funding that is available for the healthy food

incentive program that DHS may allocate to program development, promotion of and

outreach for the program, training, data collection, evaluation, administration, and

reporting for the healthy food incentive program. DHS must allocate the rest of the

funding to participating eligible retailers. The bill also requires DHS to seek any

available federal matching moneys from the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive

Program, which is a federal grant program administered by the National Institute

of Food and Agriculture of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to fund the healthy

food incentive program. The bill redirects general purpose revenue funding that had

been appropriated to a healthy eating incentive pilot program to the healthy food

incentive program.