I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3525 

To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to 

establish in the Department of Agriculture a Healthy Food Financing 

Initiative. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 30, 2011 

Ms. SCHWARTZ (for herself, Mr. BURGESS, and Mr. BLUMENAUER) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization 

Act of 1994 to establish in the Department of Agriculture a Healthy Food Financing Initiative. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Healthy Food Financ5 ing Initiative’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1)(A) the United States faces an obesity epi2 demic in which 30.5 percent of children ages 10 

3 through 17 are overweight or obese; 

4 (B) the obesity epidemic contributes to increas5 ing rates of chronic illness, including diabetes, heart 

6 disease, and cancer; and 

7 (C) the obesity epidemic cost the United States 

8 $147,000,000 in medical expenses in 2008, and this 

9 cost is expected to rise in the future; 

10 (2) the Reinvestment Fund estimates that al11 most 25,000,000 people in the United States live in 

12 low-income communities with limited access to su13 permarkets and grocery stores; 

14 (3) more than 130 studies show that— 

15 (A) access to healthy food is particularly a 

16 problem in hundreds of low-income, rural, and 

17 urban communities, as well as communities of 

18 color in the United States; and 

19 (B) the opportunity to access healthy food 

20 is linked to lower levels of obesity, diabetes, and 

21 other food-related chronic illnesses, leading to 

22 better health outcomes; 

23 (4)(A) children from low-income families are 

24 twice as likely to be overweight as children from 

25 higher income families; and 


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1 (B) African-American and Hispanic children 

2 are more likely than Caucasian children to be obese; 

3 (5) studies show that when healthy foods are 

4 available, people will increase consumption of fruits 

5 and vegetables; 

6 (6) leading public health experts, including the 

7 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 

8 American Heart Association, the Institute of Medi9 cine, and the American Public Health Association, 

10 agree that providing improved access to super11 markets and grocery stores is needed to improve 

12 public health and prevent obesity; 

13 (7) developing high-quality fresh food retail out14 lets creates jobs, expands markets for agricultural 

15 producers in the United States, and supports eco16 nomic vitality in underserved communities; 

17 (8)(A) supermarkets and grocery stores often 

18 face barriers to opening stores in food deserts; 

19 (B) the supermarket industry operates on an 

20 historically thin profit margin; 

21 (C) according to the 2011 National Grocers As22 sociation Independent Grocers Survey, the average 

23 net profit margin before taxes for independent gro24 cers in 2010 was 1.08 percent; 

25 (D) urban operators face barriers, including— 


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1 (i) increased real estate costs or limited 

2 availability of suitable commercial real estate in 

3 the community; 

4 (ii) increased employee training needs and 

5 costs; 

6 (iii) elevated security expenses; and 

7 (iv) often zoning restrictions; 

8 (E) supermarkets and grocery stores in rural 

9 food deserts also face barriers, including increased 

10 food delivery costs due to distance from distributers, 

11 dispersed customer base, and low volume; and 

12 (F) access to affordable capital is a significant 

13 problem for both rural and urban projects; 

14 (9) by providing seed capital and technical as15 sistance, the Federal Government, through time-lim16 ited investments, can— 

17 (A) attract private sector investment to 

18 create and retain much-needed jobs; and 

19 (B) provide long-term, sustainable solu20 tions to the decades-old problem of limited ac21 cess to healthy food in underserved, low-income 

22 urban and rural communities; and 

23 (10) legislation establishing a national fund 

24 modeled on the successful Pennsylvania Fresh Food 

25 Financing Initiative will help address the obesity epiVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:16 Dec 01, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3525.IH H3525

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1 demic while also creating much-needed jobs and eco2 nomic revitalization, and solving the healthy food ac3 cess problem in hundreds of communities across the 

4 United States. 

5 SEC. 3. HEALTHY FOOD FINANCING INITIATIVE. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of the Department of 

7 Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6951) 

8 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 242. HEALTHY FOOD FINANCING INITIATIVE. 

10 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to es11 tablish a program to improve access to healthy foods in 

12 underserved areas, to create and preserve quality jobs, and 

13 to revitalize low-income communities by providing loans 

14 and grants to eligible fresh, healthy food retailers to over15 come the higher costs and initial barriers to entry in un16 derserved, urban, suburban, and rural areas. 

17 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 ‘‘(1) COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL IN19 STITUTION.—The term ‘community development fi20 nancial institution’ has the meaning given the term 

21 in section 103 of the Community Development 

22 Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 (12 

23 U.S.C. 4702). 

24 ‘‘(2) FOOD ACCESS ORGANIZATION.—The term 

25 ‘food access organization’ means a nonprofit organiVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:16 Dec 01, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3525.IH H3525

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1 zation with expertise in improving access to healthy 

2 food in underserved communities. 

3 ‘‘(3) INITIATIVE.—The term ‘Initiative’ means 

4 the Healthy Food Financing Initiative established in 

5 the Department by subsection (c)(1). 

6 ‘‘(4) LOCAL FUNDS.—The term ‘local funds’ 

7 means the allocation of national funds and any other 

8 forms of financial assistance (including grants, 

9 loans, and equity investments) that are raised by 

10 partnerships to carry out the purposes of this sec11 tion. 

12 ‘‘(5) NATIONAL FUNDS.—The term ‘national 

13 funds’ means any Federal appropriation made to 

14 carry out this section and any other forms of finan15 cial assistance (including grants, loans, and equity 

16 investments) that are raised by the national fund 

17 manager to carry out the purposes of this section. 

18 ‘‘(6) NATIONAL FUND MANAGER.—The term 

19 ‘national fund manager’ means a community devel20 opment financial institution in existence as of the 

21 date of enactment of this section and certified by the 

22 Community Development Financial Institutions 

23 Fund of the Department of the Treasury that is des24 ignated by the Secretary to manage the Initiative for 

25 purposes of— 


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1 ‘‘(A) raising private capital; 

2 ‘‘(B) providing financial and technical as3 sistance to partnerships; and 

4 ‘‘(C) funding eligible projects directly at 

5 the request of partnerships to attract fresh, 

6 healthy food retailers to underserved urban, 

7 suburban, and rural areas, in accordance with 

8 this section. 

9 ‘‘(7) PARTNERSHIP.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘partner11 ship’ means a regional, State, or local public 

12 and private partnership that is organized to im13 prove access to fresh, healthy foods by pro14 viding financial and technical assistance to eli15 gible projects. 

16 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘partnership’ 

17 includes— 

18 ‘‘(i) a unit of State, local, or tribal 

19 government or a quasi-public State or local 

20 government agency; 

21 ‘‘(ii) a food access or community 

22 health organization committed to improv23 ing access to healthy foods; 

24 ‘‘(iii) a community development finan25 cial institution or other organization that 


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1 is capable of administering a loan and 

2 grant program in accordance with this sec3 tion; and 

4 ‘‘(iv) other organizations interested in 

5 improving access to healthy foods in under6 served areas. 

7 ‘‘(c) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the 

9 Department a Healthy Food Financing Initiative. 

10 ‘‘(2) MANAGEMENT.—Not later than 1 year 

11 after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec12 retary shall select and enter into a grant agreement 

13 with a national fund manager who shall be respon14 sible for the management of the Initiative nationally. 

15 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the re17 quirements of this paragraph, the national fund 

18 manager shall establish the eligibility criteria 

19 for projects to be assisted by the Initiative. 

20 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—To be eligible to 

21 receive assistance through the Initiative, a 

22 project shall— 

23 ‘‘(i) include a supermarket, grocery 

24 store, farmers market, or other fresh, 

25 healthy food retailer; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) consist of a for-profit business 

2 enterprise, a member- or worker-owned co3 operative, or a nonprofit organization; 

4 ‘‘(iii) meet the eligibility criteria es5 tablished under this section; 

6 ‘‘(iv) continue to be a viable business 

7 enterprise with a financial viability plan; 

8 ‘‘(v) require an investment of public 

9 funding to move forward and be competi10 tive; 

11 ‘‘(vi) operate on a self-service basis; 

12 ‘‘(vii) in accordance with subpara13 graph (C), expand or preserve the avail14 ability of healthy, fresh, high-quality un15 prepared foods, particularly fresh fruits 

16 and vegetables, in underserved areas; and 

17 ‘‘(viii) agree to accept benefits under 

18 the supplemental nutrition assistance pro19 gram established under the Food and Nu20 trition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et 

21 seq.). 

22 ‘‘(C) REQUIREMENTS.— 

23 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this subpara24 graph: 

25 ‘‘(I) PERISHABLE FOOD.— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—The 

2 term ‘perishable food’ means food 

3 that is fresh, refrigerated, or fro4 zen. 

5 ‘‘(bb) EXCLUSION.—The 

6 term ‘perishable food’ does not 

7 include canned goods. 

8 ‘‘(II) STAPLE FOOD.— 

9 ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—The 

10 term ‘staple food’ means food 

11 that is a basic dietary item, in12 cluding bread, flour, fruits, vege13 tables, and meat. 

14 ‘‘(bb) EXCLUSIONS.—The 

15 term ‘staple food’ does not in16 clude snack or accessory food 

17 (such as chips, soda, coffee, con18 diments, and spices) or ready-to19 eat, prepared food. 

20 ‘‘(III) VARIETY.—The term ‘vari21 ety’ means an assortment of different 

22 types of food items. 

23 ‘‘(ii) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of 

24 subparagraph (B)(vii), to expand or pre25 serve the availability of fresh fruits and 


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1 vegetables in underserved areas shall 

2 mean, with respect to a project, that the 

3 project maintains a store that— 

4 ‘‘(I) carries a full line of fresh 

5 produce, as defined by the national 

6 fund manager to reflect differences in 

7 project size and overall store size; 

8 ‘‘(II) sells food for home prepara9 tion and consumption; and 

10 ‘‘(III) at a minimum— 

11 ‘‘(aa) offers for sale at least 

12 3 different varieties of food in 

13 each of the 4 staple food groups 

14 (bread and grains, dairy, fruits 

15 and vegetables, and meat, poul16 try, and fish), with perishable 

17 food in at least 2 categories, on 

18 a daily basis; or 

19 ‘‘(bb) has a store at which 

20 at least 50 percent of the total 

21 sales of the store (including food 

22 and nonfood items or services) 

23 are from the sale of eligible sta24 ple food. 


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1 ‘‘(D) INCOME CRITERIA.—Each eligible 

2 project shall be located in— 

3 ‘‘(i) a low- or moderate-income census 

4 tract, as determined by the Bureau of the 

5 Census of the Department of Commerce; 

6 ‘‘(ii) a population census tract that is 

7 treated as a low-income community under 

8 section 45D(e) of the Internal Revenue 

9 Code of 1986; or 

10 ‘‘(iii) an area that significantly serves 

11 an adjacent area that meets the criteria 

12 described in clause (i) or (ii), as approved 

13 by the national fund manager. 

14 ‘‘(E) UNDERSERVED CRITERIA.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible 

16 project shall be located in an underserved 

17 area, as determined by the partnerships 

18 according to criteria established by the na19 tional fund manager. 

20 ‘‘(ii) FACTORS.—In determining 

21 whether an area is an underserved area, 

22 the following factors shall be taken into 

23 consideration: 

24 ‘‘(I) Population density. 


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1 ‘‘(II) Below average supermarket 

2 density or sales. 

3 ‘‘(III) Car ownership. 

4 ‘‘(IV) Geographical or physical 

5 barriers, such as highways, moun6 tains, major parks, or bodies of water. 

7 ‘‘(iii) LOCATIONS.—On an annual 

8 basis, the national fund manager shall col9 lect data and publish maps that show the 

10 location of underserved areas. 

11 ‘‘(4) PRIORITY PROJECTS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Priority shall be given 

13 to projects that— 

14 ‘‘(i) are located in severely distressed 

15 low-income communities, as defined by the 

16 Community Development Financial Insti17 tutions Fund of the Department of the 

18 Treasury; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) include 1 or more of the fol20 lowing characteristics: 

21 ‘‘(I) The project will create or re22 tain quality jobs in the community, as 

23 determined in accordance with sub24 paragraph (B). 


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1 ‘‘(II) The project has community 

2 support in terms of store quality, af3 fordability, site location, and coordina4 tion with local community plans or 

5 other programs promoting community 

6 and economic development. 

7 ‘‘(III) The project supports re8 gional food systems and locally grown 

9 foods, to the extent available. 

10 ‘‘(IV) In major metropolitan 

11 areas, the project is associated with a 

12 transit-oriented development project. 

13 ‘‘(V) In areas with public transit, 

14 the project is accessible by public 

15 transit. 

16 ‘‘(VI) The project involves the 

17 reuse of a building that is listed in or 

18 eligible for the National Register of 

19 Historic Places. 

20 ‘‘(VII) The project involves a 

21 brownfield or grayfield (as those 

22 terms are used in the Comprehensive 

23 Environmental Response, Compensa24 tion, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 

25 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.)). 


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1 ‘‘(VIII) The estimated energy 

2 consumption of the project, calculated 

3 using building energy software ap4 proved by the Department of Energy, 

5 will qualify the project for designation 

6 under the Energy Star program estab7 lished by section 324A of the Energy 

8 Policy and Conservation Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 6294a). 

10 ‘‘(IX) The project involves 

11 women- and minority-owned busi12 nesses. 

13 ‘‘(B) QUALITY JOBS.—For purposes of 

14 subparagraph (A)(ii)(I), a quality job is a job 

15 that— 

16 ‘‘(i) provides wages that are com17 parable to or better than similar positions 

18 in existing businesses of similar size in 

19 similar local economies; 

20 ‘‘(ii) offers benefits that are com21 parable to or better than what is offered 

22 for similar positions in existing local busi23 nesses of similar size in similar local econo24 mies; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) is targeted for residents of 

2 neighborhoods with a high proportion of 

3 persons of low income (as that term is de4 fined in section 102(a) of the Housing and 

5 Community Development Act of 1974 (42 

6 U.S.C. 5302(a))) through local targeted 

7 hiring programs. 

8 ‘‘(d) DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 

10 ‘‘(A) designate a national fund manager to 

11 manage national funds; 

12 ‘‘(B) oversee the Initiative nationally; 

13 ‘‘(C) work closely with the designated na14 tional fund manager— 

15 ‘‘(i) to ensure that funds are used ap16 propriately and in the most effective man17 ner practicable; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) to develop the program strategy 

19 into a detailed work plan, program, and 

20 operating budget; 

21 ‘‘(D) review and approve the operating 

22 budget for the national fund manager to ensure 

23 that the administrative costs are— 

24 ‘‘(i) reasonable (not more than 5 per25 cent of the total budget); 


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1 ‘‘(ii) connected to the costs of oper2 ations; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) reflect efficient operations by the 

4 national fund manager; and 

5 ‘‘(E) make available to the public an an6 nual report, using data obtained from the De7 partment of Agriculture, the Department of 

8 Health and Human Services, and the Commu9 nity Development Financial Institutions, that 

10 describes the impacts of the Initiative, including 

11 tracking health and economic development indi12 cators at the local, State, and national levels to 

13 determine the impacts of individual projects 

14 and the collective impact in local areas and 

15 statewide of funded projects and the Initiative 

16 overall. 

17 ‘‘(2) NATIONAL FUND MANAGER.—The Sec18 retary shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) select the national fund manager 

20 through a competitive process from among com21 munity development financial institutions that 

22 have a proven and recent track record of suc23 cess and effectiveness in— 

24 ‘‘(i) attracting private capital; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) developing and managing pro2 grams that provide grants and loans to 

3 support supermarkets and other fresh, 

4 healthy food retail business enterprises in 

5 low- and moderate-income communities, in6 cluding the development of grocery stores, 

7 farmers markets, and other fresh, healthy 

8 food retail models; 

9 ‘‘(iii) making and servicing loans that 

10 are similar to loans proposed in the Initia11 tive or having a record of otherwise suc12 cessfully investing in fresh, healthy food 

13 retail development projects; 

14 ‘‘(iv) effectively managing multiple 

15 contracts and subcontractors; 

16 ‘‘(v) effectively managing large capital 

17 pools, of at least $100,000,000; and 

18 ‘‘(vi) providing or contracting for the 

19 provision of technical assistance; and 

20 ‘‘(B) administer the Initiative by approving 

21 the disbursement of funds to the national fund 

22 manager in a manner that facilitates the imple23 mentation of the overall Initiative. 

24 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 45 

2 days after the date of receipt of an award, the 

3 national fund manager shall develop, with guid4 ance from and in consultation with the Sec5 retary, and submit to the Secretary, a detailed 

6 work plan. 

7 ‘‘(B) APPROVAL REQUIRED.—The Sec8 retary shall review and approve the work plan, 

9 program budget, and administrative costs under 

10 subsection (e)(4)(C) prior to entering into an 

11 agreement with the national fund manager to 

12 administer the Initiative. 

13 ‘‘(4) PERFORMANCE TARGETS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

15 conduct financial audits of, and establish per16 formance targets for, the national fund man17 ager, which shall include, at a minimum, the re18 quirements described in this paragraph. 

19 ‘‘(B) GEOGRAPHIC SPREAD.—Partnerships 

20 funded by the Initiative shall be geographically 

21 diverse and representative of the underserved 

22 areas across the United States. 

23 ‘‘(C) FOCUS ON LOW-INCOME COMMU24 NITIES.—A substantial portion of the projects 

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1 and low-income communities, as defined by the 

2 Bureau of the Census of the Department of 

3 Commerce. 

4 ‘‘(D) FINANCIAL EFFECTIVENESS OF THE

5 NATIONAL FUND MANAGER.—The national fund 

6 manager and any local financial institution in7 volved in a partnership shall demonstrate on8 going capacity and timeliness in raising private 

9 capital and disbursing funds as required under 

10 the Initiative. 

11 ‘‘(E) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE EFFECTIVE12 NESS OF THE NATIONAL FUND MANAGER.—The 

13 provision of technical assistance by the national 

14 fund manager shall be evaluated based on— 

15 ‘‘(i) the responsiveness of the national 

16 fund manager to requests for assistance; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(ii) the ability of the national fund 

19 manager to craft programs that develop 

20 needed new capacities in partnerships. 

21 ‘‘(F) IMPACT.—Performance targets shall 

22 address the allocation of funds by the national 

23 fund manager to partnerships and the tracking 

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1 proving access to fresh, healthy foods and in 

2 achieving other related impacts. 

3 ‘‘(e) DUTIES OF THE NATIONAL FUND MANAGER.— 

4 ‘‘(1) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The national fund 

6 manager shall— 

7 ‘‘(i) allocate at least 70 percent of any 

8 Federal appropriation made to carry out 

9 this section to partnerships that are se10 lected based on the criteria described in 

11 paragraph (3); and 

12 ‘‘(ii) retain not more than 30 percent 

13 of any Federal appropriation made to 

14 carry out this section to undertake financ15 ing activities described in subparagraph 

16 (C), including a reasonable amount for ad17 ministrative costs (not to exceed 5 percent) 

18 approved by the Secretary in accordance 

19 with paragraph (4)(C). 

20 ‘‘(B) USE OF THE NATIONAL FUNDS BY

21 PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMS.— 

22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—As a condition on 

23 the receipt of funds, each partnership shall 

24 use— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the national funds received 

2 from the national fund manager under 

3 subparagraph (A)(i) to create 1 or 

4 more revolving loan programs or other 

5 revolving pools of capital or other 

6 products to facilitate financing of local 

7 projects as determined by the agree8 ment between the partnership and the 

9 national fund manager; and 

10 ‘‘(II) any remaining funds for 

11 grants, or, as approved, for innovative 

12 financing mechanisms. 

13 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATIONS.— 

14 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Use of funds 

15 for administrative costs and other 

16 purposes shall be— 

17 ‘‘(aa) limited in accordance 

18 with the terms of the agreement 

19 negotiated between the national 

20 fund manager and partnerships; 

21 ‘‘(bb) based on whether ad22 ministrative costs are reasonable, 

23 connected to the costs of oper24 ation, and reflect efficient oper25 ations by the partnership; and 


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1 ‘‘(cc) determined using cri2 teria including geographic cov3 erage, program duration, and 

4 total funding amount. 

5 ‘‘(II) GOAL.—The goal of this 

6 clause to limit administrative costs to 

7 the maximum extent practicable, but 

8 in no case may the amount used for 

9 administrative costs exceed 10 percent 

10 of the Federal funds allocated. 

11 ‘‘(C) USE OF THE NATIONAL FUNDS BY

12 THE NATIONAL FUND MANAGER.—The national 

13 fund manager shall use national funds de14 scribed in subparagraph (A)(ii) to undertake fi15 nancing and other activities to enhance and 

16 maximize the effectiveness of the Initiative, as 

17 determined by the agreement with the Sec18 retary, including— 

19 ‘‘(i) attracting other forms of financial 

20 assistance to match or leverage the na21 tional funds; 

22 ‘‘(ii) awarding national funds to part23 nerships in accordance with paragraph (3); 

24 ‘‘(iii) creating and managing pools of 

25 grant or loan capital that blend or leverage 


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1 national funds with other forms of finan2 cial assistance, including capital in the 

3 form of tax credits under section 45D of 

4 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, for the 

5 benefit of partnerships; 

6 ‘‘(iv) creating and managing pools of 

7 grant or loan capital that blend or leverage 

8 the national funds with other forms of fi9 nancial assistance, including capital in the 

10 form of tax credits under section 45D of 

11 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, to fi12 nance eligible local projects identified by 

13 partnerships or the national fund manager 

14 that have special or unique characteristics; 

15 ‘‘(v) providing loans or grants directly 

16 to eligible local projects as matching funds 

17 if requested by a partnership; 

18 ‘‘(vi) providing credit enhancement or 

19 other financial products and instruments 

20 for the benefit of partnerships or eligible 

21 local projects; 

22 ‘‘(vii) providing technical assistance; 

23 and 


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1 ‘‘(viii) funding reasonable administra2 tive costs approved by the Secretary in ac3 cordance with paragraph (4)(C). 

4 ‘‘(2) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE NATIONAL

5 FUND MANAGER.—The designated national fund 

6 manager shall— 

7 ‘‘(A) raise other forms of financial assist8 ance to match or leverage the national funds; 

9 ‘‘(B) use administrative funds to develop 

10 appropriate training programs and offer tech11 nical assistance services to— 

12 ‘‘(i) partnerships; 

13 ‘‘(ii) State, local, and tribal govern14 ments; 

15 ‘‘(iii) the food retail industry; and 

16 ‘‘(iv) food access and health advocacy 

17 organizations to augment local capacities; 

18 ‘‘(C) develop financial products such as 

19 loans, grants, and credit enhancement tools 

20 that can be used by partnerships to incentivize 

21 and support the development and retention of 

22 supermarkets and other fresh, healthy food re23 tail in underserved areas; 


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1 ‘‘(D) award Initiative funds to eligible 

2 partnerships through an annual competitive 

3 process in accordance with paragraph (3); 

4 ‘‘(E) contract with a national food access 

5 organization to assist in the review of applica6 tions from partnerships and to provide technical 

7 assistance to local food access organizations in 

8 the proposed partnerships; 

9 ‘‘(F) award and disburse funds to partner10 ships or eligible local projects in a timely man11 ner; 

12 ‘‘(G) create and meet performance bench13 marks and reporting guidelines, as approved by 

14 the Secretary, including for— 

15 ‘‘(i) the amount of capital raised and 

16 leveraged from financial institutions, part17 nerships, and other resources; 

18 ‘‘(ii) the geographic diversity of part19 nerships; and 

20 ‘‘(iii) the proportion of projects fund21 ed by the partnership that are in severely 

22 distressed low-income communities; 

23 ‘‘(H) develop program guidelines and oper24 ating procedures for the Initiative, including— 


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1 ‘‘(i) maximum grant and loan 

2 amounts for projects; 

3 ‘‘(ii) eligible uses of funds; 

4 ‘‘(iii) prudent underwriting criteria; 

5 ‘‘(iv) performance targets; 

6 ‘‘(v) reporting guidelines; 

7 ‘‘(vi) limits on administrative costs; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(vii) implementation milestones; 

10 ‘‘(I) monitor the performance of partner11 ships; and 

12 ‘‘(J) collect data, compile information, and 

13 conduct such research studies as the national 

14 fund manager determines to be relevant to the 

15 successful implementation of the Initiative, in16 cluding— 

17 ‘‘(i) to assess national and local mar18 ket conditions; 

19 ‘‘(ii) to determine barriers to market 

20 entry; and 

21 ‘‘(iii) to identify opportunities for the 

22 development or retention of supermarkets 

23 and other fresh, healthy food retail enter24 prises in underserved communities. 


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1 ‘‘(3) CRITERIA FOR AWARDING NATIONAL

2 FUNDS TO PARTNERSHIPS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The national fund 

4 manager shall award national funds to partner5 ships through a competitive process on an an6 nual basis. 

7 ‘‘(B) FIRST ROUND PRIORITY.—In the 

8 first round of funding, the national fund man9 ager shall give priority to a limited number of 

10 existing partnerships that have demonstrable 

11 capacity to implement fresh food financing pro12 grams in underserved areas quickly, and for 

13 which there is demonstrable, significant need 

14 for improved access to healthy food. 

15 ‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL ROUNDS.—Additional 

16 rounds shall be designed to promote geographic 

17 diversity. 

18 ‘‘(D) CRITERIA.—In awarding national 

19 funds to partnerships, the national fund man20 ager shall consider— 

21 ‘‘(i) the amount of funds and other 

22 resources pledged by a partnership to 

23 match or leverage national funds; 

24 ‘‘(ii) the degree of State, local, or trib25 al government support of the partnership 


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1 as evidenced by matching grant and loan 

2 funds or other types of support, such as al3 location of tax-exempt bonds, loan guaran4 tees, and coordination of resources from 

5 other State or local economic development 

6 programs; 

7 ‘‘(iii) the capacity of the partnership 

8 to successfully develop and manage loan 

9 and grant programs; 

10 ‘‘(iv) the lack of supermarkets and 

11 other fresh, healthy food retail enterprises 

12 in low- and moderate-income areas that 

13 would be served by the partnership; 

14 ‘‘(v) the experience of the food access 

15 or community health organization of the 

16 partnership in outreach about access to 

17 healthy foods and local healthy food access 

18 issues; 

19 ‘‘(vi) the degree of community engage20 ment and support in the development and 

21 retention of supermarkets and other fresh, 

22 healthy food retail enterprises; and 

23 ‘‘(vii) the contribution of the program 

24 of the partnership to the overall geographic 

25 diversity of the Initiative. 


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1 ‘‘(4) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 45 

3 days after the date of receipt of an award, the 

4 national fund manager shall submit to the Sec5 retary for approval a 3-year program and oper6 ating budget and detailed work plan that shall 

7 include— 

8 ‘‘(i) costs for research and evaluation, 

9 technical assistance, and training; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) program and operating costs. 

11 ‘‘(B) EARNED REVENUES.—Earned reve12 nues from loan fees and interest may be ex13 pended on program and operating costs in ac14 cordance with the budget approved by the Sec15 retary. 

16 ‘‘(C) BASIS OF REVIEW.—The Secretary 

17 shall base the review under subparagraph (A) 

18 on— 

19 ‘‘(i) the likelihood of the plan and ex20 penditures to further the purposes of this 

21 section; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) whether the administrative costs 

23 are reasonable, connected to the costs of 

24 operation, and reflect efficient operations 

25 by the national fund manager. 


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1 ‘‘(f) PARTNERSHIPS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each partnership that re3 ceives assistance through the Initiative shall provide 

4 financial and technical assistance to eligible fresh, 

5 healthy food retail projects in underserved areas 

6 within the defined communities of the partnership. 

7 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATION.—Each partnership shall 

8 designate a community development financial insti9 tution or other organization that is capable of ad10 ministering a loan and grant program— 

11 ‘‘(A) to execute grant agreements with the 

12 national fund manager; and 

13 ‘‘(B) to serve as the manager of local 

14 funds. 

15 ‘‘(3) RESPONSIBILITIES OF PARTNERSHIPS.—A 

16 partnership shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) raise other forms of financial assist18 ance to match the national funds received by 

19 the partnership; 

20 ‘‘(B) provide marketing and outreach to 

21 communities, the supermarket industry, other 

22 fresh, healthy food retailers, State and local 

23 government officials, and civic and public inter24 est organizations— 


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1 ‘‘(i) to solicit applications from under2 served areas from across the State or local3 ity to be served by the partnership; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) to inform the communities and 

5 other persons about the availability of 

6 grants, loans, training, and technical as7 sistance; 

8 ‘‘(C) review and underwrite projects to de9 termine whether— 

10 ‘‘(i) a proposed project meets the cri11 teria for eligible projects under subsection 

12 (c)(3); and 

13 ‘‘(ii) a proposed project meets the cri14 teria for priority projects under subsection 

15 (c)(4); 

16 ‘‘(D) provide technical assistance services 

17 to eligible fresh, healthy food retail operators 

18 and developers; 

19 ‘‘(E) track and report outcomes, includ20 ing— 

21 ‘‘(i) the number of jobs created or re22 tained; 

23 ‘‘(ii) the quantity of fresh, healthy 

24 food retail space created or retained; and 


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•HR 3525 IH

1 ‘‘(iii) such other health and economic 

2 indicators as are required by the national 

3 fund manager; 

4 ‘‘(F) monitor and audit funded projects to 

5 ensure compliance with the Initiative, the na6 tional fund manager, and partnership program 

7 requirements for a period of at least 3 years; 

8 ‘‘(G) submit an annual report to the na9 tional fund manager that describes— 

10 ‘‘(i) the activities of the partnership; 

11 ‘‘(ii) the expenditure of local funds; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(iii) success in meeting performance 

14 targets and satisfying such other terms 

15 and conditions as are specified in the 

16 agreement between the partnership and the 

17 national fund manager; and 

18 ‘‘(H) coordinate with the national fund 

19 manager for the smooth operation of the Initia20 tive. 

21 ‘‘(4) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—As a condition on the 

23 receipt of assistance under this section, each 

24 partnership shall submit to the national fund 

25 manager for approval a 3-year budget and plan 


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•HR 3525 IH

1 for all program and operating costs, includ2 ing— 

3 ‘‘(i) costs for research and evaluation, 

4 technical assistance, and training; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) administrative and operating 

6 costs. 

7 ‘‘(B) EARNED REVENUES.—Earned reve8 nues from loan fees and interest may be ex9 pended on program and operating costs in ac10 cordance with the budget approved by the na11 tional fund manager. 

12 ‘‘(C) BASIS OF REVIEW.—The national 

13 fund manager shall base the review under sub14 paragraph (A) on the likelihood of the budget 

15 and plan to further the purposes of this section. 

16 ‘‘(g) EVALUATION AND MONITORING.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Program evaluation and fi18 nancial audits shall occur at all levels of the Initia19 tive to ensure that— 

20 ‘‘(A) national and local funds are used 

21 properly; and 

22 ‘‘(B) the objectives of the Initiative are 

23 met. 

24 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM EVALUATION AND FINANCIAL

25 AUDITS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 

2 ‘‘(i) conduct periodic program evalua3 tions and financial audits of the national 

4 fund manager, partnerships, and projects 

5 funded by the Initiative; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) share with the national fund 

7 manager the results of the evaluations and 

8 audits. 

9 ‘‘(B) FUNDED PROJECTS.—The Secretary 

10 or the national fund manager shall evaluate 

11 partnerships to assess the health and economic 

12 impacts of projects funded by the Initiative. 

13 ‘‘(C) OTHER IMPACTS.— 

14 ‘‘(i) SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND

15 HUMAN SERVICES.—The Secretary of 

16 Health and Human Services shall conduct 

17 research studies and evaluate the health 

18 impacts of the Initiative. 

19 ‘‘(ii) COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FI20 NANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.—Representatives 

21 of the Community Development Financial 

22 Institutions shall conduct research studies 

23 and evaluate the economic impacts of the 

24 Initiative. 

25 ‘‘(D) PARTNERSHIPS.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Each partnership 

2 shall— 

3 ‘‘(I) conduct periodic administra4 tive and financial audits of projects 

5 funded by the Initiative; and 

6 ‘‘(II) share with the national 

7 fund manager the results of the au8 dits. 

9 ‘‘(ii) FAILURE OF PARTNERSHIP.—In 

10 a case in which a partnership fails, the na11 tional fund manager shall take over the 

12 portfolio of the failed partnership. 

13 ‘‘(h) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

15 after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec16 retary shall promulgate regulations— 

17 ‘‘(A) for the conduct of a rigorous per18 formance evaluation to determine the impact of 

19 the Initiative at the end of the initial 5-year pe20 riod, which the Secretary shall submit to Con21 gress; 

22 ‘‘(B) to establish metrics for evaluating the 

23 effectiveness of the Initiative; and 


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•HR 3525 IH

1 ‘‘(C) under which the Secretary shall as2 sess whether the Initiative should be extended 

3 at the end of the initial 5-year period. 

4 ‘‘(2) TERMINATION OF CONTRACTS FOR

5 CAUSE.—The Secretary may promulgate regulations 

6 under which the Secretary may terminate contracts 

7 for cause if the Secretary determines that to be nec8 essary. 

9 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

10 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

11 out this section $125,000,000, to remain available until 

12 expended.’’. 

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 296(b) of 

14 the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 

15 1994 (7 U.S.C. 7014(b)) is amended— 

16 (1) in paragraph (6)(C), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

17 end; 

18 (2) in paragraph (7), by striking the period at 

19 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

20 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(8) the authority of the Secretary to establish 

22 in the Department the Healthy Food Financing Ini23 tiative in accordance with section 242.’’. 

Æ 


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