I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3100 

To establish the Food Desert Oasis Pilot Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 26, 2009 

Mr. RUSH (for himself, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. 

KILPATRICK of Michigan, Mr. CLAY, Mr. COHEN, Ms. FUDGE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. CLEAVER, and Mr. CARSON of Indiana) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, 

for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 

for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 

committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish the Food Desert Oasis Pilot Program, and for 

other purposes. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Food Desert Oasis Act of 2009’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

7 this Act is as follows: 


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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—FOOD DESERT OASIS PILOT PROGRAM 

Sec. 101. Food Desert Zones; qualified food desert businesses. 

Sec. 102. Increase in rehabilitation tax credit for qualified food desert businesses. 

Sec. 103. Food desert employment tax credit. 

Sec. 104. Food desert tax exempt facility bonds. 

TITLE II—HUNGER-FREE COMMUNITIES GRANTS EXTENSION 

AND ENHANCEMENT 

Sec. 201. Expansion of hunger-free communities program. 

TITLE III—REPORTS TO CONGRESS ON PILOT PROGRAM 

Sec. 301. Reports to Congress on pilot program. 

1 TITLE I—FOOD DESERT OASIS 

2 PILOT PROGRAM 

3 SEC. 101. FOOD DESERT ZONES; QUALIFIED FOOD DESERT 

4 BUSINESSES. 

5 (a) FOOD DESERT ZONES.—Each of the following 

6 shall be treated as a separate Food Desert Zone: 

7 (1) Chicago, Illinois. 

8 (2) Detroit, Michigan. 

9 (3) Cleveland, Ohio. 

10 (4) Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

11 (5) Houston, Texas. 

12 (6) Memphis, Tennessee. 

13 (7) Birmingham, Alabama. 

14 (8) San Antonio, Texas. 

15 (9) Kansas City, Missouri. 

16 (10) Indianapolis, Indiana. 

17 (11) Baltimore, Maryland 


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1 (12) Atlanta, Georgia. 

2 (13) Richmond, Virginia. 

3 (14) Los Angeles, California. 

4 (15) Cincinnati, Ohio. 

5 (16) St. Louis, Missouri. 

6 (17) Nashville, Tennessee. 

7 (18) District of Columbia. 

8 (19) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

9 (20) New Orleans, Louisiana. 

10 (b) QUALIFIED FOOD DESERT BUSINESS.—For pur11 poses of this Act, the term ‘‘qualified food desert busi12 ness’’ means any taxpayer for any taxable year if such 

13 taxpayer— 

14 (1) is in the trade or business of selling prod15 ucts at wholesale or retail, and 

16 (2) at least 25 percent of such taxpayer’s gross 

17 receipts from such trade or business are derived 

18 from the sale of fresh fruits and vegetables. 

19 For purposes of this subsection, all persons treated as a 

20 single employer under subsection (b), (c), (m), or (o) of 

21 section 414 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 shall 

22 be treated as 1 taxpayer. 


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1 SEC. 102. INCREASE IN REHABILITATION TAX CREDIT FOR 

2 QUALIFIED FOOD DESERT BUSINESSES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of qualified rehabilita4 tion expenditures (as defined in section 47(c) of the Inter5 nal Revenue Code of 1986) paid or incurred by a qualified 

6 food desert business during the period beginning on the 

7 date of the enactment of this Act and ending on December 

8 31, 2012, with respect to any qualified building, sub9 section (a) of section 47 of such Code (relating to rehabili10 tation credit) shall be applied— 

11 (1) by substituting ‘‘13 percent’’ for ‘‘10 per12 cent’’ in paragraph (1) thereof, and 

13 (2) by substituting ‘‘26 percent’’ for ‘‘20 per14 cent’’ in paragraph (2) thereof. 

15 (b) QUALIFIED BUILDING.—For purposes of this sec16 tion, the term ‘‘qualified building’’ means any qualified re17 habilitated building or certified historic structure (as de18 fined in section 47(c) of such Code) which— 

19 (1) is located in a Food Desert Zone, and 

20 (2) is used by the qualified food desert business 

21 in carrying on the trade or business referred to in 

22 section 101(b). 

23 SEC. 103. FOOD DESERT EMPLOYMENT TAX CREDIT. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the modifications in 

25 subsection (b), a Food Desert Zone shall be treated as 

26 an empowerment zone for purposes of section 1396 of the 


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1 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 with respect to wages paid 

2 or incurred after the date of the enactment of this Act 

3 and before December 31, 2015. 

4 (b) MODIFICATIONS.—In applying section 1396 of 

5 such Code to Food Desert Zones, only qualified food 

6 desert businesses shall be treated as employers. 

7 SEC. 104. FOOD DESERT TAX EXEMPT FACILITY BONDS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of the Internal Rev9 enue Code of 1986, any qualified food desert bond shall 

10 be treated as an exempt facility bond. 

11 (b) QUALIFIED FOOD DESERT BOND.—For purposes 

12 of this section, the term ‘‘qualified food desert bond’’ 

13 means any bond issued as part of an issue if— 

14 (1) 95 percent or more of the net proceeds (as 

15 defined in section 150(a)(3) of such Code) of such 

16 issue are to be used for qualified project costs, 

17 (2) such bond is issued by the State (or any po18 litical subdivision thereof) in which the property re19 ferred to in subsection (d) is located, 

20 (3) such bond is designated for purposes of this 

21 section by— 

22 (A) in the case of a bond which is required 

23 under State law to be approved by the bond 

24 commission of such State, such bond commis25 sion, and 


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1 (B) in the case of any other bond, the Gov2 ernor of such State, 

3 (4) such bond is issued after the date of the en4 actment of this section and before January 1, 2016, 

5 and 

6 (5) no portion of the proceeds of such issue is 

7 to be used to provide any property described in sec8 tion 144(c)(6)(B) of such Code. 

9 (c) LIMITATIONS ON BONDS.— 

10 (1) AGGREGATE AMOUNT DESIGNATED.—The 

11 maximum aggregate face amount of bonds which 

12 may be designated under this section with respect to 

13 any Food Desert Zone shall not exceed $20,000,000. 

14 (2) MOVABLE PROPERTY.—No bonds shall be 

15 issued which are to be used for movable fixtures and 

16 equipment. 

17 (d) QUALIFIED PROJECT COSTS.—For purposes of 

18 this section, the term ‘‘qualified project costs’’ means the 

19 cost of acquisition, construction, reconstruction, or renova20 tion of nonresidential real property (including fixed im21 provements associated with such property) which— 

22 (1) is located in a Food Desert Zone, and 

23 (2) is used by a qualified food desert business 

24 in carrying on the trade or business referred to in 

25 section 101(b). 


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1 (e) APPLICATION OF CERTAIN RULES.—For pur2 poses of this section, rules similar to the rules of para3 graphs (5) and (6) of section 1400N(a) of such Code shall 

4 apply. 

5 TITLE II—HUNGER-FREE COM6 MUNITIES GRANTS EXTEN7 SION AND ENHANCEMENT 

8 SEC. 201. EXPANSION OF HUNGER-FREE COMMUNITIES 

9 PROGRAM. 

10 Section 4405 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy 

11 Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 7017) is amended— 

12 (1) in subsection (b)(1)(B) by inserting ‘‘, ex13 cept that for fiscal years 2010 through 2015 the 

14 Federal share shall be 100 percent of the cost of 

15 carrying out such activity in a Food Desert Zone (as 

16 specified in section 101(a) of the Food Desert Oasis 

17 Act of 2009)’’ before the period at the end, and 

18 (2) in subsection (e) by striking ‘‘2012’’ and in19 serting ‘‘2015’’. 

20 TITLE III—REPORTS TO 

21 CONGRESS ON PILOT PROGRAM 

22 SEC. 301. REPORTS TO CONGRESS ON PILOT PROGRAM. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury, in 

24 consultation with such other Federal officials as the Sec25 retary determines appropriate, shall annually submit a 


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1 written report to Congress regarding the Food Desert 

2 Oasis Pilot Program established under title I. 

3 (b) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—Such report shall in4 clude— 

5 (1) an analysis of any increases or decreases in 

6 the health of the residents of the Food Desert 

7 Zones, and 

8 (2) the effect of title I on the level of invest9 ment in the Food Desert Zones. 

10 (c) TIMING OF REPORTS.—The first report under 

11 subsection (a) shall be made not later than December 31, 

12 2011 and shall cover the period ending on December 31, 

13 2010. The last such report under subsection (a) shall be 

14 made not later than December 31, 2016 and shall cover 

15 the period ending on December 31, 2015. 

Æ 


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