SB2187sam002 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Sen. Willie Preston

Filed: 4/4/2025

10400SB2187sam002 LRB104 09079 HLH 24676 a

AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 2187

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 2187 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Good Food Purchasing Act.

Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:

"Good food purchasing core values" means the following when used in developing procurement criteria for food:

(1) Prioritizing local suppliers, especially small or mid-sized farms, food manufacturers, or food businesses, that are privately or cooperatively operated or operated as not-for-profits. As used in this item (1), "local supplier" means a supplier that is located:

(1) if feasible, within Illinois; or

(2) if not feasible:

(A) within a 250-mile radius of Illinois when procuring food other than meat, poultry, or seafood; or

(B) within a 500-mile radius of Illinois when procuring meat, poultry, or seafood.

(2) Identifying pathways for purchasing from small and community-based suppliers when purchasing products that cannot be grown or harvested within the mileage limitations specified in item (1), such as seafood, coffee, cocoa, and sugar.

(3) Prioritizing suppliers who are entrepreneurs of color and community members who have been impacted by current and historic economic marginalization, difficulties in leveraging institutional buying power, lack of infrastructure, lack of financial resources, lack of staff time, and lack of land.

(4) Building partnerships with the community members specified in item (3) to ensure that food products and menus reflect the interests and cultures of everyone they serve.

(4) Prioritizing suppliers whose business practices promote: (i) community health and universal rights to clean air and water; (ii) the reduction or elimination of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers; (iii) improved soil health and carbon sequestration; (iv) reduced fossil fuel energy inputs and protection of water resources; (v) biodiversity and ecological resilience; (vi) food waste reduction; (vii) greenhouse gas emission reduction; and (viii) reduction or elimination of single-use plastics and other resource-intensive packaging and reducing carbon and water footprint of food purchases.

(5) Sourcing from producers and vendors that: (i) comply with labor laws, including minimum wage laws, through contractual requirements and enforcement; (ii) honor the right to freedom of association; (iii) provide workers with the ability to organize a union and to bargain collectively, free from reprisal, for livable wages and safe and healthy working conditions; (iv) uphold and implement workers' rights principles; and (v) implement cooperative ownership, democratic decision-making, and migrant, racial, and gender justice.

(6) Sourcing from farms and ranches that provide healthy and humane conditions for farm animals throughout the lives of those animals by providing: (i) adequate nutrition for the animals; (ii) physical environments that provide the animals with enough space and enrichment to carry out their natural behaviors; (iii) pain control and responsible therapeutic antibiotic use; and (iv) humane handling, transport, and slaughter of the animals.

(7) Promoting community health, nutrition, equitable access, and food sovereignty by prioritizing the procurement of high-quality and culturally-relevant whole or minimally processed foods, including vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and plant-forward meals.

(8) Prioritizing the procurement of foods that have not undergone preservation methods such as canning and bottling using oils, sugar, or salt.

(8) In general, prioritizing products that are certified or endorsed by a national organization that manages a Good Food Purchasing Program.

"Good food purchasing equity, accountability, and transparency" means:

(1) Having or developing a supplier or vendor diversification plan with goals that include reporting and accountability measures. Data collected under this item (1) shall be disaggregated by demographic group, including race and gender.

(2) Prioritizing purchases and addressing barriers to entry for suppliers who have experienced negative systemic social or economic impacts including, but not limited to, women, veterans, people with disabilities, and especially people of color, across all supply chains and to the greatest extent possible.

(3) Sharing purchasing data, assessment, purchasing targets, and implementation plans in a publicly accessible location, including online with community members to facilitate engagement and transparency. That data sharing can be achieved by requiring vendor data-sharing.

(4) Engaging with community members, including, but not limited to, people served by meal programs, food service workers, constituents, and local food businesses, in informing values-based purchasing decisions and processes.

(5) Developing and implementing comprehensive institutional policies that reflect community needs and values and prioritize transparency, racial equity, local economies, environmental sustainability, valued workforce, animal welfare, and community health and nutrition within their operations and food procurement.

(6) Ensuring that institutional policies are embedded in agreements for contracted food services and that mechanisms are developed to ensure compliance and accountability through reporting and active contract management.

"Minimally processed foods" means foods that are unaltered or slightly altered from the food's natural state through such processes as removal of inedible or unwanted parts, drying, powdering, squeezing, crushing, grinding, fractioning, steaming poaching, boiling, roasting, pasteurization, chilling, freezing, placing in containers, vacuum packaging, nonalcoholic fermentation, and other methods that do not add to the original food, salt, sugar, oils or fats, or food substances other than additives that prolong product duration, protect original properties, or prevent proliferation of microorganisms. "Minimally processed foods" include, but are not limited to, whole grains or flours; fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables; meat, poultry, fish, and seafood, whole or in the form of steaks, fillets, and other cuts; pasteurized milk, eggs, or pasteurized plain yogurt; legumes; and nuts and seeds. "Minimally processed foods" also includes foods made of 2 or more items in this group, such as dried mixed fruits, and foods with vitamins and minerals generally added to replace nutrients lost during minimal processing, such as flour fortified with iron and folic acid.

Section 10. Good Food Purchasing Task Force.

(a) The Good Food Purchasing Task Force created by House Joint Resolution 33 adopted in the 102nd General Assembly is reestablished and shall continue with its study of current procurement practices for food within the State. The Task Force shall explore ways in which good food purchasing can be implemented to maximize the procurement of food in a way that aligns with good food purchasing core values and good food purchasing equity, transparency, and accountability.

(b) Specifically, the Task Force shall distribute a survey to each State agency and each State-owned facility that purchases food, including, but not limited to, facilities for persons with mental health challenges and developmental disabilities, correctional facilities, and public institutions of higher education. The survey shall solicit information about current food procurement practices, including, but not limited to:

(1) the total amount spent by the agency or facility on food annually;

(2) the number and a description of any food service programs implemented or used by the agency or facility;

(3) the number and a description of any physical food service sites used by the agency or facility;

(4) procurement methods used by the agency or facility and any potential barriers to aligning the agency's or facility's procurement methods with good food purchasing core values and good food purchasing equity, transparency, and accountability;

(5) the agency's or facility's food service operational model (i.e. the use of a food service management company, self-operation, or self-operation with some vended food); and

(6) the agency's or facility's current procurement calendar.

(c) Any action taken in reliance on House Joint Resolution 33 of the 102nd General Assembly after January 1, 2023 by any person or entity is hereby validated.

(d) The Task Force shall consist of the following members, who shall serve without compensation:

(1) the Lieutenant Governor or his or her designee;

(2) the Speaker of the House of Representatives or his or her designee;

(3) the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives or his or her designee;

(4) the Senate President or his or her designee;

(5) the Senate Minority Leader or his or her designee;

(6) one member nominated by a statewide local food advocacy organization and appointed by the Lieutenant Governor;

(7) one member nominated by a national multi-sector food advocacy organization and appointed by the Lieutenant Governor;

(8) one member nominated by a Chicago-based food advocacy organization and appointed by the Lieutenant Governor;

(9) one member nominated by a statewide environmental advocacy organization and appointed by the Lieutenant Governor;

(10) one member nominated by a statewide labor organization that represents food workers and appointed by the Lieutenant Governor;

(11) one member nominated by a national farm-animal welfare organization and appointed by the Lieutenant Governor;

(12) the Director of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity or his or her designee;

(13) the Director of the Environmental Protection Agency or his or her designee;

(14) the Director of the Department of Public Health or his or her designee;

(15) the Director of the Department of Natural Resources or his or her designee;

(16) the Chief Procurement Officer for General Services or his or her designee;

(17) the Chief Procurement Officer for Higher Education or his or her designee;

(18) the Chief Procurement Officer for the Secretary of State's Office or his or her designee;

(19) the Director of Corrections or his or her designee;

(20) the Secretary of Human Services or his or her designee;

(21) the Director of Central Management Services or his or her designee;

(22) the Director of the Department of Agriculture or his or her designee;

(23) one member nominated by a statewide organization that advocates for healthy nutrition and appointed by Lieutenant Governor; and

(24) one member nominated by a statewide coalition that advocates for a just State food system and appointed by the Lieutenant Governor.

The Task Force members shall select a chairperson at the first meeting of the Task Force. Any member appointed under House Joint Resolution 33 of the 102nd General Assembly who was a member of the Task Force at the end of the 102nd General Assembly shall continue to serve on the Task Force unless the member resigns or the member is ineligible or otherwise unable to serve as a member of the Task Force.

(e) The Task Force may hire any necessary staff or consultants, enter into contracts, and make any expenditures necessary for carrying out its duties, all out of moneys appropriated for that purpose.

(f) The Department of Agriculture shall provide administrative support for the Task Force.

(g) The Task Force may establish an advisory committee to ensure maximum public participation in the Task Force's work.

(h) The Task Force shall submit a final report to the Governor and General Assembly no later than 2 years after the effective date of this Act. That final report shall include a summary of the results from the survey described in subsection (b) of this Section as well as recommendations for not less than one but not more than 3 State agencies or State-owned facilities that are well positioned to participate in good food purchasing pilot programs, including detailed survey results from those agencies or facilities. Following submission of the final report, the Task Force shall continue to meet to support future good food purchasing pilot programs.

Section 15. Good Food Purchasing Fund. The Good Food Purchasing Fund is established as a special fund in the State treasury. Interest earned by the Good Food Purchasing Fund shall be credited to the Fund. Moneys in the Fund may be appropriated to the Department of Agriculture to administer this Act, and moneys in the Fund may not be used for any other purpose. The Fund shall be subject to appropriation, however, the Department of Agriculture shall also be permitted to accept federal government, local government, and private resources at any time to implement this Act.

Section 900. The State Finance Act is amended by adding Section 5.1030 as follows:

(30 ILCS 105/5.1030 new)

Sec. 5.1030. The Good Food Purchasing Fund.".