2023 Anti-Hunger State Policy Platform

The Blueprint’s State Policy Subcommitte (Committee) aims to create, execute, and manage a state anti-hunger policy platform that advocates for sustainable, equitable, and effective food and farm systems in Colorado.

Recap & looking ahead to next year:
The 2023 state legislative session ended in early May, and the Committee is proud to have supported its largest state policy platform to date. While the Blueprint does shepherd certain legislation each year, a majority are led by partners across the state. These partners for 2023 included the Colorado Access to Justice Commission, Colorado Center on Law & Policy, Colorado Children’s Campaign, Feeding Colorado, Food Justice Northwest Aurora, Hunger Free Colorado, and Nourish Colorado.

Outcomes from the 2023 legislative session will help guide the Committee in planning for 2024 — and they are already starting to envision the next session’s priorities. Though often focused on food and nutrition, legislative priorities may also address other health, social, and economic disparities that impact Colorado communities and everyone’s ability to thrive.

Please contact Greta Allen of the Blueprint if you would like to join or bring your community’s ideas to the Committee for resourcing and assistance. The Committee is a collective of community members from across the state as well as anti-hunger and public health professionals, and anyone is welcome to join; no policy experience or expertise is required to participate.

The state policy platform below was continuously updated throughout the 2023 General Assembly, which ended in early May. [Last updated May 16, 2023]

Active Support

(The Committee lends all of its available advocacy, lobbying, communications, and other resources to support the proposed legislation, including “in favor” testimony at legislative committees.):

  •  HB23-1087: Fiscal Rule Advance Payment Charitable Food Grants
    Signed into Law

    This bill creates an additional exception in state fiscal rules that obliges the State Controller to clarify rules that allow an exception for use of state dollars for advance payment for the purchase of state agricultural products. Organizations such as schools and food banks or food pantries will be able to spend state grant dollars before the agricultural season begins.

    This legislation will allow Colorado producers and nonprofit food entities to enter into advance purchasing agreements and more state dollars will be able to support the Colorado agricultural sector and its recipients. Purchasing organizations will then receive the food they contracted for once it’s harvested/produced. This allows Colorado producers to plan ahead and provide the necessary agricultural supply by using state funding to get seeds in the ground and raise the necessary stock on the basis of expressed demand for foods grown, raised, and processed in Colorado.

Support

(The Committee lends the Blueprint’s name to any endorsements/sign-ons in favor of the legislation and helps promote the legislation using pre-developed partner messaging through the Blueprint’s existing communication channels.)

  • SB23-027: Food Pantry Assistance Grant Program
    Last in Senate Appropriations Committee

    Colorado has an annually recurring program called the Food Pantry Assistance Grant that provides funding to food banks and food pantries to provide food to their communities (with a focus on locally cultivated foods) and to purchase necessary equipment to support their charitable food infrastructure and administration.

    This year, Hunger Free Colorado is leading a request that continues and authorizes level funding of $3 million for the Food Pantry Assistance Grant for five years.

  • SB23-178: Water-wise Landscaping In Homeowners' Association Communities
    Signed into Law

    This bill focuses on conserving water and building micro-habitat at no public cost. This bill would require Homeowner Associations (HOAs) to select at least 3 water-wise landscape designs that will be pre-approved for resident use on property they own and maintain. It also prevents an HOA from requiring hardscape on more than 20% of landscape area and from prohibiting vegetable gardening in front yards. Additionally, it permits a civil action against an HOA for a violation of this law, allowing the HOA 45 days to correct the violation.

  • HB23-1008: Food Accessibility
    Signed into Law

    This bill will improve the capacity of existing small, local retailers to store and sell nutritious food and improve access, lower prices, and reduce food insecurity, particularly for Colorado families most at risk, while keeping more of the proceeds of economic activity in the local community by:

    • Extending the community food access consortium program and expanding the small business recovery and resilience grant program created in HB22-1380;

    • Providing a tax credit for qualified small food retailers' one-time purchase of equipment for food storage, display, point of sales systems, and equipment not purchased with grant funding;

    • Securing funding for the changes by decoupling the federal and state income tax deduction for business meals for individual and corporate taxpayers.

  • HB23-1124: Funding For Services For Colorado Employment First Participants
    Last in House Appropriations Committee; amendment(s) failed

    The Colorado Employment First (EF) program is designed to prepare SNAP recipients for meaningful employment through work-related education, training activities, and work-based learning opportunities. Those who are able-bodied adults and without dependents are typically required to work at least 20 hours a week. Such individuals may sign up for SNAP Employment and Training to satisfy their work requirements.

    This bill continues to expand EF program services to priority populations such as single parents, students, individuals experiencing homelessness, individuals who have been involved in the justice system, and those who are unemployed. It also funds programs to serve more Coloradans across the state. This bill would re-appropriate $1.5M annually from the state general fund, generating $1.5M annually of federal funding for $3M total funding annually.

  • HB23-1158: Colorado Commodity Supplemental Food Grant Program
    Signed into Law

    The bill creates the Colorado Commodity Supplemental Food Grant Program to provide grants of money to aid county departments of human or social services, food banks, and food pantries in purchasing and distributing food packages to qualifying low-income older adults in the state.

    Feeding Colorado is leading this bill with a request of the State to allocate $3 more in administrative funding per box, per person for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, administered by the Colorado Department of Human Services, to fill in gaps that the program faces due to operational costs.

  • HB23-1280: Colorado Access to Justice Commission
    Signed into Law

    This bill codifies the Colorado Access to Justice Commission. The Governor, legislative leadership, Supreme Court of Colorado, and Colorado legal organizations are to appoint the 17 - 20 member commission. The bill directs the Commission to make recommendations regarding legislative and regulatory changes that could help improve access to justice for all Coloradans. 

    Codifying this Commission and its programs expands access, quality, and fairness in the justice system for all Coloradans. It would establish an annual review of access barriers and recommended solutions by the Joint Judiciary Committee. It would also help the Access to Justice Commission gain future access to funding sources in order to expand services for Coloradans.

Amend

(The Committee actively uses its available resources and lobbying capacity to try and amend this legislation to make it more favorable in regards to the Blueprint’s goals.)

  • SB23-159: Sunset Colorado Food Systems Advisory Council
    Signed into Law

    The Colorado Food Systems Advisory Council (COFSAC) is scheduled to sunset on September 1, 2023. The bill extends the sunset date until September 1, 2030. COFSAC, established through SB10-106, is a legislatively-mandated, governor-appointed, volunteer-based council. COFSAC is charged with advancing recommendations that strengthen healthy food access for all Coloradans through Colorado agriculture systems and local food economies. 

    The Blueprint, in support of its partners on COFSAC, is taking an amend position on the bill to ensure that the scope of COFSAC remains broad enough to be able to respond to contemporary needs by allowing members of the public to suggest areas of focus and research for the council. This would allow COFSAC to continue to be responsive to community needs.

Under Consideration 

(The Committee is still working through the process of bill language review before taking a formal position.)

  • None at this time.

Want to get involved?

The Blueprint’s State Policy Subcommittee (Committee) is a collective of community members from across the state, as well as anti-hunger and public health professionals. Their goal is to create, execute, and manage a state anti-hunger policy platform that advocates for sustainable, equitable, and effective food and farm systems in Colorado.

The Committee meets virtually every other Tuesday from 12 - 1 p.m. All are welcome to join and participate; no policy experience or expertise is required.

Please contact Greta Allen, the Blueprint’s Policy Manager, if you would like to get involved or have any questions about the state legislative platform and Committee.