Colorado Legislative WINS
We have some BIG thanks to send out to our Colorado elected officials for all their hard work and support of anti-hunger policies at the state level during session this spring.
3 BIG wins we want to call out, and a massive shout out to Representative Rick Taggart - longtime friend of the food bank – for all his leadership in sponsoring incredibly impactful programs to address food insecurity in our community:
The Joint Budget Committee continued to fund Healthy School Meals for All through next school year. This is a big win as it will ensure kids will continue to have access to this very popular program next school year - but there is definitely more progress to make – learn more here
The Community Food Assistance Provider Grant Program was introduced in the house and our Rep. Taggart who is a prime sponsor of the bill. The program will provide reliable grant funding to both food banks and food pantries to purchase nutritious Colorado products. This bill passed in the House and is currently going through the 3 readings in the Senate and should hopefully be passed by the Senate on Friday. This program is especially close to our hearts here at the Community Food Bank, as we received annual funding from the Food Pantry Assistance Grant program that has helped us bring fresh and culturally important Colorado foods to CFB clients and partners throughout the valley!!
Finally, the Healthy Food Incentive Program bill requires the department of public health to work with a statewide non-profit to provide healthy food incentives that attempt to improve access to fresh CO grown fruits and vegetables for low-income communities. An example of this type of incentive is the double up food bucks program that allows SNAP participants to go to farmers markets, spend 20 of their SNAP dollars on fresh local produce and then receive an additional 20 SNAP dollars to spend on more fresh local produce!
Join us in personally thanking Rep. Taggart and others representatives for all their thoughtful commitment to addressing hunger in Colorado. Their support maintains an incredible amount of positive momentum in our community, our state, and within the Community Food Bank of Grand Junction! Email: rick.taggart.house@coleg.gov
