Advocacy & Public Policy

 
 


AAFB spearheads advocacy and public policy efforts in Arizona and nationwide in collaboration with other organizations whose interests and concerns align themselves with our mission. Be sure to Like us on Facebook to get the most up-to-the-minute advocacy and public policy news of interest to you, our member food banks and those struggling with hunger throughout Arizona.

The Latest News

FEBRUARY 16 UPDATE:

There’s lots going on as this week is the last time to hear bills in their house of origination.  In other words, if a bill doesn’t get heard this week in order to move to the other house for consideration, it is essentially dead.  Here’s the status on the bills we’ve been tracking (those bolded are active on our list; links to bill descriptions below):

SB1061 – passed in Senate, now in the House, but not assigned to committees
SB1121 – passed in Senate, lining up in the House, assigned to House Ways & Means on 2/15; hearing scheduled with this committee on 3/5 at 2 p.m.
HB2212 – passed in House, now in the Senate, but not assigned to committees
HB2565 – held in House Government Committee at this time
HB2582 – discharged and held in House Health & Human Services Committee
HB2591 – has not been agendized in House Health and Human Services Committee at this time
HB2617 – being held in House Judiciary Committee at this time
HB2627 – passed House Ways and Means Committee on 1/30 but no action since
HB2822 – primary sponsor withdrew the bill and it’s being held in House Ag and Water Committee
TABOR SCR1030 – passed 2/15 in Senate Appropriations, to put issue on ballot; needs Rules and Senate Floor vote process to be completed before moving to the House.


AT THE STATE LEVEL:

There are many bills being heard in the legislature at the moment, and this is AAFB's position on ones that impact food banks, our safety net and Arizonan's struggling with hunger:

AAFB opposing: 
  • HB2565 – Lobbyist Registration and Reporting for 501(c)(3)’s exception due to the loss of public transparency about lobbying efforts in the state.
  • HB2582 – Requires Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES) to issue safety orange electronic benefits transfer (EBT) cards for SNAP (Food Stamp) and AHCCCS participants and requires retailers to check a second ID of any individual presenting an EBT card.
  • HB2591 – Public Assistance Education Program to be launched by DES optional for clients to participate in, online only, limited agenda and ineffective approach to helping people in need.
  • HB2627 – Working Poor/Charitable Tax Credit bill to eliminate this benefit for donors to qualified charitable organizations.
AAFB watching very carefully:
  • SB1061 – National School Lunch Optional as it has the potential of impacting access to nutrition during the school day for low income children.
  • Bills or other actions in the House and/or Senate to institute Tax Payer Bill of Rights (TABOR) legislation in AZ which would limit or stagnate health and human services, and education funding adjustments in the future based on various measures of population in the state.
AAFB supporting :
  • SB1121 – expanding products that can be donated to food banks and other non-profits with food oriented missions to increase the tax subtraction for the AZ grower; HB2617 – repealing the requirement that SNAP participants (adults) have to give their fingerprint image as a method of identification in order to receive the benefits.
  • HB2212 – Tax Exempt Organizations filing AZ90 returns exception for small non-profits with gross revenue of $50,000 or less, which would bring Arizona’s law into alignment with federal law.
AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL:

Deficit Reduction Measures

The failure of the Super Committee to come to an agreement last year triggered automatic cuts that go into effect in January 2013 unless Congress takes further action. While most anti-hunger programs are exempt from these automatic cuts, uncertainty remains. Any attempts by Congress toward deficit reduction could put anti-hunger programs at risk of cuts.

Farm Bill

The Farm Bill governs federal both farm and food policy, including SNAP (Food Stamps), TEFAP and other nutrition programs. The Farm Bill is renewed every five years and the current version expires on September 30, 2012. What to watch for:
  • The Agriculture Committees made recommendations to the Super Committee for $23 billion in cuts, including a $4.2 billion cut to SNAP. That package may be the starting point for discussions on the 2012 Farm Bill. With the current emphasis on cuts, it seems unlikely at this point that there would be new investments in nutrition programs.
  • Our top legislative priorities: strengthening The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) to better meet the increased demand for food and protecting SNAP and other anti-hunger programs from cuts or harmful programmatic changes.
Implementation of Child Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR; The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act)

CNR authorizes funding for federal school meal and child nutrition programs and increases access to healthy food for low-income children. What to watch for:
  • The USDA released their new nutrition standards in January 2012.
  • CNR included the first real (non-inflationary) reimbursement rate increase for school meals in roughly 30 years. USDA plans to begin issuing these funds in 2012.
  • USDA will select states to participate in a demonstration project to test the use of Medicaid data for connecting eligible children with free school meals.
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