Senate Study Bill 3246
SENATE FILE
BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON
STATE GOVERNMENT BILL
BY CO=CHAIRPERSON HORN)
Passed Senate, Date Passed House, Date
Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays
Approved
A BILL FOR
1 An Act establishing an Iowa food policy council.
2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
3 TLSB 6459SK 81
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PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. FINDINGS AND DECLARATION. The general assembly
1 2 finds and declares all of the following:
1 3 1. The economy and social fabric of this state are
1 4 inextricably linked to food production and food production=
1 5 related activities.
1 6 2. Food production accounts for more than twenty=five
1 7 percent of the state's gross annual product.
1 8 3. The expansion of global markets for agricultural
1 9 products has failed to keep pace with increased agricultural
1 10 productivity in recent years, leading to a reduction in the
1 11 amount of income earned by local producers.
1 12 4. Unacceptable numbers of people from across the state
1 13 and around the world do not have reliable access to Iowa's
1 14 abundant food supply.
1 15 5. This state contains some of the most productive
1 16 farmland found anywhere in the world, and the potential to
1 17 feed hungry populations and generate sustainable income for
1 18 local producers is virtually unlimited.
1 19 6. This state has natural and population resources to
1 20 become a world leader in a new economy by creating an
1 21 efficient food infrastructure that links producers,
1 22 processors, distributors, and marketers to vibrant and
1 23 sustainable world markets.
1 24 7. The development of important linkages to different
1 25 parts of the food infrastructure will enable this state to
1 26 establish itself as the food capital of the world by creating
1 27 new opportunities to increase profitability for Iowa
1 28 agricultural producers through product diversification, local
1 29 processing, enhanced distribution, and direct marketing.
1 30 8. It is imperative for policymakers to develop a common
1 31 working knowledge of Iowa's overall food system by collecting
1 32 and analyzing information about the state's food
1 33 infrastructure, including consumer patterns, in an effort to
1 34 improve food policy=related decisions.
1 35 9. A state food policy that is designed to produce a safe,
2 1 nutritious, and adequate food supply stock for world
2 2 consumption must also balance economic, environmental, and
2 3 social considerations that are important to the people of this
2 4 state.
2 5 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION. 7.19 IOWA FOOD POLICY COUNCIL.
2 6 An Iowa food policy council is established within the
2 7 office of the governor.
2 8 1. The purpose of the Iowa food policy council is to
2 9 advise the governor on all aspects of the food system in Iowa.
2 10 The council's advice shall include but not be limited to all
2 11 of the following:
2 12 a. The state's baseline agricultural production output,
2 13 including the collection of data and an assessment of the
2 14 amount of food produced annually in this state; the amount of
2 15 food that is purchased and consumed by state residents; and
2 16 the extent to which the food produced in this state is
2 17 processed, distributed, and marketed by local individuals and
2 18 businesses.
2 19 b. Barriers that limit the access of local businesses to
2 20 production, distribution, and consumer markets within this
2 21 state and to markets outside this state. The council shall
2 22 perform an assessment which includes but is not limited to an
2 23 examination of the manner in which state and local policies
2 24 may impede the ability of local individuals and businesses to
2 25 engage in food production, processing, distribution, and
2 26 marketing activities.
2 27 c. Barriers that limit the access of hungry consumers to
2 28 available food stocks.
2 29 d. Innovative local food system activities, including an
2 30 assessment of the state's capacity to replicate these
2 31 activities across this state.
2 32 e. Strategies to expand training and assistance programs
2 33 for local individuals and businesses, including methods that
2 34 link actors at each stage of the local food infrastructure
2 35 together in a working system.
3 1 f. Strategies to improve the participation of state and
3 2 local governments in the development of a growing local food
3 3 infrastructure.
3 4 g. Strategies to link consumers to a growing local food
3 5 infrastructure.
3 6 2. The council shall be composed of all of the following:
3 7 a. Four members serving as ex officio, nonvoting members,
3 8 including all of the following:
3 9 (1) The secretary of agriculture or the secretary's
3 10 designee.
3 11 (2) The director of the department of economic development
3 12 or the director's designee.
3 13 (3) The director of the department of human services or
3 14 the director's designee.
3 15 (4) The director of the Iowa department of public health
3 16 or the director's designee.
3 17 b. One person serving as a voting member, associated with
3 18 the Iowa cooperative extension service in agriculture and home
3 19 economics and who is appointed by the president of Iowa state
3 20 university.
3 21 c. Not less than eleven and not more than sixteen persons
3 22 who are public members serving as voting members, who are
3 23 actively engaged in areas of this state's food system, and who
3 24 are appointed by the governor, including all of the following:
3 25 (1) An agricultural producer, who is engaged in direct
3 26 marketing of food to consumers, and whose scope of operations
3 27 is principally local.
3 28 (2) A food processor whose scope of operations is
3 29 principally local.
3 30 (3) A food distributor whose scope of operations is
3 31 principally local.
3 32 (4) A person engaged in agriculture and education in an
3 33 urban environment.
3 34 (5) A person who is an agricultural policy and legal
3 35 expert.
4 1 (6) A person who is an expert in hunger prevention and
4 2 food security.
4 3 3. A vacancy on the council shall be filled for the
4 4 unexpired portion of the regular term in the same manner as
4 5 the regular appointment is made.
4 6 4. a. Appointments of the public members are subject to
4 7 the requirements of sections 69.16 and 69.16A, and to every
4 8 extent feasible shall be geographically balanced. The public
4 9 members shall be confirmed by the senate, pursuant to section
4 10 2.32.
4 11 b. A public member shall serve a five=year term beginning
4 12 and ending as provided in section 69.19. However, the
4 13 governor shall appoint initial members to serve for less than
4 14 five years to ensure members serve staggered terms. A member
4 15 is eligible for reappointment.
4 16 5. The council shall elect a chairperson from among its
4 17 public members each year on a rotating basis as provided by
4 18 the council. The council shall meet on a regular basis and at
4 19 the call of the chairperson or upon the written request to the
4 20 chairperson of a majority of public members.
4 21 6. Members are not entitled to receive compensation, but
4 22 public members shall receive reimbursement of expenses as
4 23 provided in section 7E.6.
4 24 7. A majority of public members constitute a quorum and
4 25 the affirmative vote of a majority of the public members
4 26 present is necessary for any substantive action to be taken by
4 27 the council. The majority shall not include any member who
4 28 has a conflict of interest and a statement by a member that
4 29 the member has a conflict of interest is conclusive for this
4 30 purpose. A vacancy in the membership does not impair the
4 31 duties of the council.
4 32 8. The governor's office shall assist the council in
4 33 carrying out its functions.
4 34 a. The council shall seek administrative support from the
4 35 agricultural law center at Drake university. To every extent
5 1 feasible, research, policy development, and publication
5 2 activities shall be coordinated through Drake university.
5 3 b. The council may seek and obtain financing to support
5 4 its activities, including private donations, state and federal
5 5 grant assistance, and institutional support from Drake
5 6 university.
5 7 EXPLANATION
5 8 This bill relates to Iowa's food policy, including by
5 9 establishing a food policy council in the office of the
5 10 governor. The bill is based upon executive order 16,
5 11 subscribed by the governor on March 31, 2000.
5 12 The bill includes findings and declarations by the general
5 13 assembly which state the importance of food production and
5 14 food production=related activities to this state; the need to
5 15 expand opportunities in global markets for agricultural
5 16 products; the need to develop a food infrastructure which
5 17 links local producers, processors, distributors, and marketers
5 18 to vibrant and sustainable world markets; and the importance
5 19 of a state food policy that produces a safe, nutritious, and
5 20 adequate food supply stock for world consumption while
5 21 balancing economic, environmental, and social considerations.
5 22 The bill establishes an Iowa food policy council within the
5 23 office of the governor. The bill provides that its purpose is
5 24 to advise the governor on all aspects of the food system in
5 25 Iowa which includes developing a baseline for agricultural
5 26 production output; identifying barriers that limit the access
5 27 of local businesses to production, distribution, and consumer
5 28 markets within this state and to markets outside this state;
5 29 identifying innovative local food system activities; and
5 30 identifying a number of strategies relating to training and
5 31 assistance, participation by state and local governments in
5 32 the development of a growing local food infrastructure, and
5 33 linking consumers to a local food infrastructure.
5 34 The bill provides that the council is composed of ex
5 35 officio, nonvoting members, including the secretary of
6 1 agriculture, the director of the department of economic
6 2 development, the director of the department of human services,
6 3 and the director of the Iowa department of public health, or
6 4 their designees. The voting members must include one person
6 5 associated with the Iowa cooperative extension service in
6 6 agriculture and home economics and who is appointed by the
6 7 president of Iowa state university. The bill provides that
6 8 the governor may appoint from 11 to 16 voting members who are
6 9 actively engaged in areas of the food system in this state.
6 10 The bill provides procedures for the making of appointments
6 11 and the conduct of meetings which is based on other Code
6 12 sections. The bill provides that the council is required to
6 13 seek support from Drake university. The council is authorized
6 14 to seek and obtain financing to support its activities from
6 15 private and public sources.
6 16 LSB 6459SK 81
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