HB 186-FOOD DONATIONS  3:44:52 PM CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ announced that the next order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 186, "An Act relating to the donation of food; and relating to food banks." 3:45:15 PM REPRESENTATIVE DAVE TALERICO, Alaska State Legislature, as the sponsor of the proposed bill, paraphrased from the Sponsor Statement [included in members' packets], which read as follows [original punctuation provided]: HB 186 seeks to reduce the amount of wasted food in the state while increasing the amount of food donated to food banks and other charitable organizations. Nearly 15% of Alaskans fall into the category of food insecure individuals. Many businesses are currently donating excess food however many desire to do so but are not because of liability. Many charitable organizations do not receive sufficient food donations to feed the homeless and hungry that without such charities have no way to eat. These charities and people may greatly benefit from more donated food. HB 186 will allow hotels, restaurants, stores and other food donors who choose to donate their excess unsold food or out dated food to donate to food banks or charitable organizations free from liability. This will open up the doors for thousands of pounds of new donated food to charities and thus help feed the nearly 15% hungry Alaskans. HB will require that all food donors that choose to donate hot excess food to simply label the donated hot food that can be frozen and re-served. HB 186 will also reduce the amount of food put into our landfills which smells, attracts animals, birds and unnecessarily takes up space. I urge your support for this bill to help reduce the amount of wasted food and increase the amount of donated food to decrease hunger in Alaska. Thank you! 3:48:06 PM ELIJAH VERHAGEN, Staff, Representative Dave Talerico, Alaska State Legislature, explained the bill, and paraphrased from the Sectional Analysis [Included in members' packets], which read: Sec. 1 - AS 17.20.345 Amends AS 17.20.345 (a) by adding charitable organizations in statute next to food banks to be able to receive donated food from donors who may donate their food free from liability. Amends AS 17.20.345 (b)(l) by adding a sentence clarifying that the labels referenced in this statute do not include the new label referenced in section two of this bill; which requires heated donated food to be labeled. Amends AS 17.20.345 (b) by adding a third bullet point allowing donors of food to donate food with an expired date on it. Amends AS .17.20.345 (c) by adding charitable organizations in statute along with food banks to be able to receive donated salmon from hatcheries. Sec. 2 - AS 17.20.345 Amends AS 17.20.345 is amended by adding a new section which allows donors of food to donate excess hot food to food banks and charities as long as they label it as previously heated food. Sec. 3 - AS 17.20.346 Amends AS 17.20.346 (a) by adding charitable organizations in statute next to food banks to be free from liability to donate received food to hungry individuals as long as they first inspect it and deem it fit for human consumption. Amends AS 17.20.346 (b) by adding charitable organizations in statute next to food banks to be free to receive donated food with an expired date on it. Sec. 4 - AS 17.20.347 Amends AS? 17.20.347 (1) by adding delicatessen, restaurant, hotel and store under the definition of donor. Amends AS 17.20.347 (2) by deleting part of the definition of a food bank so as to separately define a nonprofit organization in a new section. Sec. 5 - AS 17 .20.34 7 Amends AS 17.20.347 by adding three new definitions namely 1. "charitable organization" means a nonprofit organization that provides food without charge to individuals who do not have money to pay for the food or who do not have homes; 2. "food" includes unsold hot food; 3. "nonprofit organization" means an organization recognized by the state or federal government as a nonprofit organization. 3:55:44 PM REPRESENTATIVE EDGMON asked if there was a need for language in the proposed bill to tie in donor to charitable organizations, possibly for tax purposes or benefits in statutes, to make a donor involved in commercial activities more willing to provide an act of charity. 3:56:59 PM MR. VERHAGEN directed attention to page 1, line 5, which read: "a donor of food for free distribution by a food bank or charitable organization is not subject to civil or criminal liability arising." He stated that a donor of food could give to a food bank or charitable organization. He pointed to page 3, which defined donor. He referred to the Legislative Legal Services to discuss any tax benefits. 3:57:44 PM CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ said that the financial incentive for donors was well detailed in federal tax law, and that the donor simply needed to identify and attribute a value to the items when adding it to their individual taxes. She said this was up to the individual donor. REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON asked about caterers. MR. VERHAGEN directed attention to page 3, line 15, and acknowledged that although the specific mention of caterer was not included, he offered his belief that it could be added. 3:59:04 PM TERRY BANNISTER, Attorney, Legislative Legal Counsel, Legislative Legal Services, Legislative Affairs Agency, offered her belief that the definition of donor had many terms which would include caterer, but that the specific term caterer could be added. 3:59:50 PM REPRESENTATIVE TARR reported that the federal government had recently made specific tax incentives for food donation. She asked that the presentation include the information that each year in the U.S. enough food was thrown away to feed the country for six months. MR. VERHAGEN said that other testifiers would expand on this. 4:01:12 PM CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ expressed her desire to reduce food waste to its absolute minimum, especially to address hunger in Alaska. She declared that there was a challenge for food safety and handling of hot foods. She asked if this had been addressed. 4:02:21 PM MR. VERHAGEN said that this had been discussed and that the charitable organizations had these handling procedures already in place. CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ pointed to page 3, line 31, and added that she had worked for many nonprofit organizations which had no expertise in food safety and handling. She said that this still created a concern for her. 4:04:28 PM HOLLIS HALL, Secretary of the Board, Fairbanks Community Food Bank, said that he grew up during the depression and World War II, and that he remembered food ration books and stamps. He stated that "food waste was not an option when I grew up, but now, it seems to be." He said that on any given day, there could be "a couple of times or more of food that would otherwise be waste if it were not brought to the foodbank. It would be discarded, but we find a use for it." He acknowledged that some days there was a shortage of fresh food, and that there was always room for more. He declared that an objective of the food bank was to see that no one would go hungry, and that this could best be accomplished with donations of food. 4:06:31 PM SAMANTHA KIRSTEIN, Director of Community Development, Fairbanks Community Food Bank, expressed her support for the proposed bill. She reported that there was similar federal legislation which was "the backbone of national food banking for many years, and does reduce the liability for those generous commercial donors." She said that there was still concern from some Alaska donors. She offered a history of the food bank in the Fairbanks community and its current work, which included daily collection and distribution of two to five tons of local surplus food. She reported that every food box included 20 pounds of food per person, which was expected to last for nine meals per person. She explained, as the food bank was an emergency supply of locally donated and salvaged food, that any family could order 10 food boxes each calendar year. She stated that the food bank worked at the Department of Environmental Conservation highest standards for collection, storage, and distribution of food, serving 30,000 people each year. She reported that each year, the food bank collected and distributed more than 2 million pounds of food in food boxes. She added that they worked with more than 100 food donors, distributing the food through 100 agencies, and that they worked hard to adhere to all the rules for food handling. She declared that the food bank was not a political organization. She asked that the proposed bill be moved from the committee immediately. 4:12:02 PM CARA DURR, Director of Public Engagement, Food Bank of Alaska, said that the proposed bill enhanced and complemented the provisions in the federal legislation and was very successful in its support for retail groceries and other businesses in their efforts to donate food that would otherwise be wasted. She expressed her hope that the proposed bill would give extra assurance to any small business owners who might be hesitant to donate because of any perceived liability. She pointed out that as 106,000 Alaskans faced food insecurity, it was important to reduce food waste and encourage donations. 4:13:26 PM EDDIE EZELLE, Matanuska-Susitna Food Bank, encouraged support for the proposed bill, pointing out that there had been a reduction in giving. He added that the proposed bill helped protect food distributors from unnecessary lawsuits concerning the donated food products, and it helped people in need. 4:15:03 PM REPRESENTATIVE SULLIVAN-LEONARD offered her whole-hearted support for the proposed legislation. CHAIR SPOHNHOLZ announced that HB 186 would be held over.