With your commitment to ensuring all people have opportunities to live healthy, Health Foundation of South Florida is sharing information on the Healthy Food Financing Bill (SB760) in the Senate. It unanimously passed its first committee of reference, the Senate Agriculture Committee, on January 11, 2016 and will now be referred to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on General Government.
Dedicated individuals and organizations, like the American Heart Association, are working to get the bill placed on the agenda in both the House and Senate to keep the bill moving through the process. According to American Heart Association Government Relations Director David A. Francis, “The hurdle to overcome with the HFFI Bill will be getting the full $5 million appropriated from the Legislature.” He added, “Most of the elected officials we spoke with agree with the policy we are working on; however the appropriations ask has been a challenge.”
With your help, these challenges can be overcome. Please urge your Representative to agenda HB 153 in the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee. This can be done by calling or meeting with the chair of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee or any member on the committee. The Senate Appropriation Subcommittee on General Government has placed the bill on the agenda for Tuesday, January 26. You can help keep the momentum going in the Senate by emailing or calling the members of the committee and asking them to vote “YES” on SB 760. For your reference, the bill numbers are: HB 153/SB 760.
In addition, if you’re on Twitter, you can tweet to the members and ask them to support the bills: Sen. Alan Hay - @Hays2010 and Rep. Ben Albritton - @RepAlbritton. Use the hashtag #Closer2myGrocerFL.
In case you want to add a few points to the conversation, check out the following link:
http://www.healthyfoodaccess.org/
HEALTHY FOOD FINANCING INITIATIVES:
Policy Objective: Secure public funding to create or expand Healthy Food Financing initiatives to increase the number of healthy food retail outlets (supermarkets, grocery stores, farmers' markets, mobile markets) in underserved communities.
Key Targets:
For additional information, please contact: American Heart Association Greater Southeast Affiliate, Government Relations Director David A. Francis by email: [email protected] or cell: 850.567.0598. Your actions on this issue will lead to making an impact in ensuring all Floridians have access to healthy foods.
