HB 6854 Summary

• Establishes the Office of the Food Access Advocate within the Department of Social Services to coordinate food insecurity programs, outreach campaigns, and data collection on a town-by-town basis, effective October 1, 2023.

• Appoints a Food Access Advocate by the Governor with General Assembly approval to oversee 24 duties including supporting grant applications, facilitating food recovery coordination, advocating for health and agricultural policies, and publishing annual reports on food insecurity.

• Creates a public repository of food access and insecurity data including food desert locations, food recovery organization coverage, and COVID-19 pandemic impacts by town and census tract.

• Allows municipalities to abate real property taxes on new grocery stores established in food deserts for assessment years beginning October 1, 2023, and October 1, 2024, conditional on the grocery store having at least 90 percent food product square footage and entering a labor peace agreement with a bona fide labor organization.

• Authorizes the state to provide grant-in-aid to municipalities up to the amount of taxes abated and requires the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development to develop and report a strategic plan by January 1, 2024, for grocery store incentives in food deserts.