(1) There is created in the department a community food access program. The purpose of the program is to improve access to and lower prices for healthy foods in low- income and underserved areas of the state by supporting small food retailers. (2) (a) As part of the program, the department shall create a community food consortium for small food retailers and Colorado-owned and Colorado-operated farms that has the following duties and responsibilities: (I) Providing technical assistance in purchasing and negotiations; (II) Providing subsidies for pallet, pallet break, distribution, and delivery fees; (III) Assisting with connecting small food producers to small food retailers, which ultimately supports the farm, retailer, and consumer; (IV) Operating as a food value chain coordinator to connect small food retailers to Colorado-owned and Colorado-operated farms and small- and large-scale distributors; and (V) Providing technical support to small food retailers who choose to participate in the consortium with negotiating pallet, pallet break, pricing, distribution, and delivery fees for better prices on wholesale products. (b) (I) For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, the general assembly shall appropriate one million dollars from the economic recovery and relief cash fund created in section 24-75-228 to the department for the purposes of implementing this section. (II) The department is authorized to use up to seven percent of the total money appropriated to the program for the direct and indirect costs of administering the program. (III) The use of money appropriated pursuant to this subsection (2)(b) must conform with the allowable purposes set forth in the federal "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021", Pub.L. 117-2, as amended. The department shall spend or obligate such appropriation in accordance with section 24-75-226 (4)(d). (IV) The state department shall comply with the compliance, reporting, record-keeping, and program evaluation requirements established by the office of state planning and budgeting and the state controller in accordance with section 24-75-226 (5). (V) Repealed. (3) (a) As part of the program, the department shall create and manage the small food business recovery and resilience grant program. The department shall award grants, not to exceed fifty thousand dollars, out of the grant program, to participating small food retailers and small family farms. The department may award the owner of a small food retailer or small family farm one such grant each calendar year for every small food retailer or small family farm owned by the owner. The department shall award these grants for: (I) Assisting with the necessary costs of operating; (II) Purchasing costly equipment, including but not limited to cold storage, display shelving, and calibrated and certified produce scales; (III) Providing accounting and book management support; and (IV) Purchasing or updating point of sales systems or equipment to allow participating small food retailers to accept payment from any food incentive program. (b) (I) The department shall create an advisory committee consisting of no more than seven members to assist with the grant program. The advisory committee may include but need not be limited to members that reflect community and nonprofit organizations that have experience relevant to subsection (4)(a) of this section, small food retailers, and small family farms that are not applying for grant funding, an individual who has participated in a supplemental food assistance benefit program, and department staff with experience in grant- making. The commissioner shall select the members of the advisory committee. (II) The advisory committee's role is to make recommendations on and assist with: (A) The development of the grant application; (B) A disbursement timeline for the grants; (C) A rubric to evaluate grant applications; (D) The evaluation of grant applications; and (E) Awarding grant money to eligible recipients. (III) The department and advisory committee shall award at least thirty percent of the grants to applicants located in rural areas. (c) (I) For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, the general assembly shall appropriate seven million dollars from the economic recovery and relief cash fund created in section 24-75-228 to the department for the purposes of implementing this section. (II) The department is authorized to use up to ten percent of the total money appropriated to the program for the direct and indirect costs of administering the program. (III) Money spent pursuant to this subsection (3)(c) must conform with the allowable purposes set forth in the federal "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021", Pub.L. 117-2, as amended. The department shall spend or obligate such appropriation in accordance with section 24-75-226 (4)(d). (IV) The department shall comply with the compliance, reporting, record-keeping, and program evaluation requirements established by the office of state planning and budgeting and the state controller in accordance with section 24-75-226 (5). (V) This subsection (3) is repealed, effective September 1, 2027. (4) The department shall develop a strategy for outreach to Colorado-owned and Colorado-operated farms and food retailers and small farms that are interested in participating in the consortium or applying for a grant through the grant program. The outreach strategy must include: (a) Funding for partnerships with nonprofit organizations to ensure applicants for the consortium and grant program reflect the identity and needs of their individual communities. The outreach strategy must include funding for partnerships with nonprofit organizations that have: (I) Experience working with small food retailers and small family farms that currently accept payment from any incentive program; (II) Experience running and supporting small food retailers and small family farms or any other food incentive program; (III) Experience with grant-making; (IV) Community relationships that will ensure that outreach to small food retailers and small farms reflects the identity and needs of individual communities; or (V) A demonstrated track record of working in food access and food justice; and (b) Working with local governments, counties, towns, and other municipalities. (5) On or before January 30, 2027, the department shall submit a report to the agriculture, livestock, and water committee of the house of representatives and the agriculture and natural resources committee of the senate, or any successor committees, on the grant program and consortium, including information on grantees, use of grant funds, SNAP sales, and produce and stocking data. (6) (a) For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, the general assembly shall appropriate one million dollars from the economic recovery and relief cash fund created in section 24-75-228 to the department of human services. The department of human services shall use the appropriation for electronic benefits transfer back-end programmatic updates. The appropriation must also be used for new functionality with the contracted financial technology vendor and eligibility system that makes it possible to deposit time-limited incentive funds based on qualifying purchases back into an account by an authorized electronic benefits transfer retailer with the appropriate middleware. (b) The department of human services is authorized to use up to ten percent of the total money appropriated to the program for the direct and indirect costs of administering the program. (c) The use of money appropriated pursuant to this subsection (6) must conform with the allowable purposes set forth in the federal "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021", Pub.L. 117-2, as amended. The department of human services shall spend or obligate such appropriation in accordance with section 24-75-226 (4)(d). (d) The department of human services shall comply with the compliance, reporting, record-keeping, and program evaluation requirements established by the office of state planning and budgeting and the state controller in accordance with section 24-75-226 (5). (e) This subsection (6) is repealed, effective September 1, 2027. (7) The department shall promulgate rules as necessary for the implementation of this section. (8) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires: (a) "Consortium" means the community food consortium created in subsection (2) of this section. (b) "Grant program" means the small food business recovery and resilience grant program created in subsection (3) of this section. (c) "Program" means the community food access program created in subsection (1) of this section. (d) "Small family farm" means a farm that is Colorado-owned and Colorado-operated and has an annual gross revenue below three hundred fifty thousand dollars. (e) "Small food retailer" means: (I) An independent or nonprofit-managed, Colorado-owned, and Colorado-operated small food retail business, defined as a food retailer with less than ten thousand square feet of retail space that carries at least three categories of federally defined staple foods, as described in the federal "Food and Nutrition Act of 2008", secs. 3 and 9; the federal "Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017", sec. 76; and the federal "Enhancing Retailer Standards in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program", 81 Fed. Reg. 90675; and be located in or provide food to local, state, or federally defined low-income, low-access neighborhoods; or (II) A farmer's market or farm-direct operation that is already or demonstrates an intent to become SNAP and WIC-authorized where allowed. (f) "SNAP" means the supplemental nutrition assistance program established in part 3 of article 2 of title 26. (g) "WIC" means the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children, created pursuant to 42 U.S.C. sec. 1786. (9) This section is repealed, effective September 1, 2031.
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