Healthy Food Access for All Americans Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1313 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to establish a new tax credit and grant program to stimulate investment and healthy nutrition options in food deserts, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 24, 2021 Mr. RYAN (for himself and Mr. MCEACHIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addi- tion to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently de- termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to establish a new tax credit and grant program to stimulate invest- ment and healthy nutrition options in food deserts, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Healthy Food Access 4 for All Americans Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1313.IH H1313 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1313 IH SEC. 2. TAX CREDIT AND GRANT PROGRAM FOR SPECIAL 1 ACCESS FOOD PROVIDERS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.— 3 (1) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—Subpart D of 4 part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal 5 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the 6 end the following new section: 7 ‘‘SEC. 45U. SPECIAL ACCESS FOOD PROVIDER CREDIT AND 8 GRANT PROGRAM. 9 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF CREDIT FOR GROCERY 10 STORES.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 38, 12 the special access food provider credit determined 13 under this section for any taxable year is an amount 14 equal to the lesser of— 15 ‘‘(A) the amount of the allocation received 16 by the taxpayer under subsection (d)(1)(A), or 17 ‘‘(B) the amount equal to— 18 ‘‘(i) in the case of a qualified grocery 19 store which is placed in service during such 20 taxable year by a taxpayer which has been 21 certified as a special access food provider, 22 15 percent of the basis of such grocery 23 store, including any property used in the 24 operation of such grocery store— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1313.IH H1313 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1313 IH ‘‘(I) which is acquired by the tax- 1 payer if the original use of such prop- 2 erty commences with the taxpayer, 3 and 4 ‘‘(II) with respect to which de- 5 preciation (or amortization in lieu of 6 depreciation) is allowable, or 7 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a qualified renova- 8 tion area which is placed in service during 9 such taxable year, 10 percent of the ren- 10 ovation expenditures incurred by a tax- 11 payer which has been certified as a special 12 access food provider. 13 ‘‘(2) RENOVATION EXPENDITURES.—For pur- 14 poses of paragraph (1)(B)(ii), the term ‘renovation 15 expenditures’ means amounts chargeable to capital 16 account and incurred for property (or additions or 17 improvements to property) of a character subject to 18 the allowance for depreciation in connection with the 19 renovation or rehabilitation of a grocery store. 20 ‘‘(b) GRANT PROGRAM FOR FOOD BANKS AND TEM- 21 PORARY ACCESS MERCHANTS.— 22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordina- 23 tion with the Secretary of Agriculture, shall, subject 24 to the requirements of this section, provide a grant 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1313.IH H1313 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1313 IH to any entity which has been certified as a special 1 access food provider in an amount equal to the less- 2 er of— 3 ‘‘(A) the amount of the allocation received 4 by the entity under subsection (d)(1)(B), or 5 ‘‘(B) the amount equal to— 6 ‘‘(i) in the case of a permanent food 7 bank which has been placed in service dur- 8 ing the taxable year by such provider, 15 9 percent of any qualified construction ex- 10 penses incurred by such provider, and 11 ‘‘(ii) in the case of any provider which 12 qualifies as a temporary access merchant, 13 10 percent of any annual operational costs 14 incurred by such provider. 15 ‘‘(2) TIME FOR PAYMENT OF GRANT.—The Sec- 16 retary shall make payment of any grant under para- 17 graph (1) during the 60-day period beginning on the 18 later of— 19 ‘‘(A) the date of the application for certifi- 20 cation as a special access food provider, or 21 ‘‘(B) the date— 22 ‘‘(i) in the case of a permanent food 23 bank, on which the food bank for which 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1313.IH H1313 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1313 IH the grant is being made is placed in serv- 1 ice, or 2 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a temporary access 3 merchant, the end of the taxable year in 4 which the operational costs were incurred. 5 ‘‘(3) GRANT NOT CONSIDERED INCOME FOR 6 PURPOSES OF TAXATION.—A grant under this sub- 7 section shall not be considered as gross income for 8 purposes of this chapter. 9 ‘‘(c) CERTIFICATION AS A SPECIAL ACCESS FOOD 10 PROVIDER.— 11 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—Each applicant for certifi- 12 cation as a special access food provider shall submit, 13 for each grocery store, food bank, mobile market, or 14 farmers market, an application with the Secretary, 15 at such time, in such manner, and containing such 16 information as the Secretary may reasonably re- 17 quire. 18 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—For 19 purposes of certification as a special access food pro- 20 vider, the Secretary, in consultation with the Sec- 21 retary of Agriculture and the applicable regional 22 community development entity, shall determine 23 whether— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1313.IH H1313 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1313 IH ‘‘(A) in the case of an applicant seeking to 1 construct, renovate, or rehabilitate a grocery 2 store, whether such store— 3 ‘‘(i) following completion of such con- 4 struction, renovation, or rehabilitation, will 5 qualify as a grocery store (as defined in 6 subsection (h)(3)), 7 ‘‘(ii) is located in a food desert on the 8 date on which construction, renovation, or 9 rehabilitation begins, 10 ‘‘(iii) satisfies the eligibility criteria 11 established for projects under the Healthy 12 Food Financing Initiative established 13 under section 243 of the Department of 14 Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 15 U.S.C. 6953), and 16 ‘‘(iv) satisfies such other criteria as is 17 determined appropriate by the Secretary, 18 in consultation with the Secretary of Agri- 19 culture, or 20 ‘‘(B) in the case of an applicant seeking to 21 operate a permanent food bank or as a tem- 22 porary access merchant, whether such appli- 23 cant— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1313.IH H1313 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1313 IH ‘‘(i) is an entity for which no part of 1 the net earnings of such entity inures to 2 the benefit of any private shareholder or 3 individual, 4 ‘‘(ii)(I) in the case of a permanent 5 food bank, is located in a food desert on 6 the date on which construction of such 7 food bank begins, or 8 ‘‘(II) in the case of a temporary ac- 9 cess merchant— 10 ‘‘(aa) sells or provides food in 11 any food desert for an average of— 12 ‘‘(AA) in the case of a farm- 13 ers market, not less than 10 14 hours (during daylight hours) 15 each week during the calendar 16 year, or 17 ‘‘(BB) in the case of a tem- 18 porary access merchant which is 19 not a farmers market, not less 20 than 5 days and 50 hours each 21 week during the calendar year, or 22 ‘‘(bb) satisfies such requirements 23 as are established by the Secretary of 24 Agriculture to ensure an adequate 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1313.IH H1313 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1313 IH level of food distribution within food 1 deserts, 2 ‘‘(iii) satisfies the eligibility criteria 3 described in subparagraph (A)(iii), and 4 ‘‘(iv) satisfies such other criteria as is 5 determined appropriate by the Secretary. 6 ‘‘(3) NO ADDITIONAL USDA GRANTS FOR FARM- 7 ERS MARKETS.—A farmers market shall not be eligi- 8 ble for certification as a special access food provider 9 during any period in which such farmers market re- 10 ceives funding pursuant to any other grant program 11 administered by the Department of Agriculture 12 (with the exception of grants provided pursuant to 13 the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive under sec- 14 tion 4405 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy 15 Act of 2008). 16 ‘‘(d) ALLOCATION OF SPECIAL ACCESS FOOD PRO- 17 VIDER CREDITS AND GRANTS.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In each calendar year, the 19 Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of Ag- 20 riculture, shall provide allocations to entities which 21 have been certified as special access food providers 22 under subsection (c) to receive— 23 ‘‘(A) in the case of an entity certified pur- 24 suant to subparagraph (A) of subsection (c)(2), 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1313.IH H1313 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1313 IH a special access food provider credit for expend- 1 itures related to a qualified grocery store or 2 qualified renovation area, and 3 ‘‘(B) in the case of an entity certified pur- 4 suant to subparagraph (B) of such subsection, 5 grants for qualified construction expenses or 6 operational costs incurred by such entity. 7 ‘‘(2) DURATION OF GRANTS TO TEMPORARY AC- 8 CESS MERCHANTS.—In the case of a special access 9 food provider which qualifies as a temporary access 10 merchant, the Secretary shall provide the grant to 11 such provider on an annual basis for a period of not 12 greater than 10 years. 13 ‘‘(e) RECAPTURE.— 14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (3), 15 the Secretary shall provide for recapturing the ben- 16 efit of any credit allowable or grant provided under 17 this section with respect to any qualified grocery 18 store, qualified renovation area, or permanent food 19 bank which fails to satisfy the requirements under 20 subsection (c)(2) during the 5-year period following 21 the date on which such store, area, or food bank is 22 placed in service. 23 ‘‘(2) TEMPORARY ACCESS MERCHANT.—Subject 24 to paragraph (3), the Secretary shall provide for re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1313.IH H1313 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1313 IH capturing the benefit of any grant provided under 1 this section with respect to any temporary access 2 merchant which fails to satisfy the requirements 3 under subsection (c)(2) for any year during the pe- 4 riod described in subsection (d)(2). 5 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION.—If, during any taxable 6 year, a special access food provider fails to satisfy 7 the requirements under subsection (c)(2), the tax 8 under this chapter for such taxable year shall be in- 9 creased by an amount equal to the appropriate per- 10 centage of the credit or grant amount as is deter- 11 mined appropriate by the Secretary. 12 ‘‘(f) BASIS REDUCTION.—The basis of any qualified 13 grocery store, any grocery store which includes a qualified 14 renovation area, or any food bank, mobile market, or 15 farmers market shall be reduced by the amount of any 16 credit or grant determined under this section with respect 17 to such property. 18 ‘‘(g) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary, in coordination 19 with the Secretary of Agriculture, shall prescribe such reg- 20 ulations as may be appropriate to carry out this section, 21 including regulations which— 22 ‘‘(1) prevent the abuse of the purposes of this 23 section, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1313.IH H1313 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1313 IH ‘‘(2) impose appropriate reporting require- 1 ments, and 2 ‘‘(3) ensure that non-metropolitan areas receive 3 a proportional amount of allocations provided under 4 subsection (d). 5 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 6 ‘‘(1) FOOD DESERT.— 7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘food desert’ 8 means any population census tract in which— 9 ‘‘(i) not less than 500 people, or 33 10 percent of the population of such tract, re- 11 side— 12 ‘‘(I) in the case of a tract located 13 within a metropolitan area, more than 14 1 mile from a grocery store, or 15 ‘‘(II) in the case of a tract not lo- 16 cated within a metropolitan area, 17 more than 10 miles from a grocery 18 store, 19 ‘‘(ii) the poverty rate for such tract is 20 at least 20 percent, or 21 ‘‘(iii)(I) in the case of a tract not lo- 22 cated within a metropolitan area, the me- 23 dian family income for such tract does not 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1313.IH H1313 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1313 IH exceed 80 percent of statewide median 1 family income, or 2 ‘‘(II) in the case of a tract located 3 within a metropolitan area, the median 4 family income for such tract does not ex- 5 ceed 80 percent of the greater of statewide 6 median family income or the metropolitan 7 area median family income. 8 ‘‘(B) AREAS NOT WITHIN CENSUS 9 TRACTS.—In the case of an area which is not 10 tracted for population census tracts, the equiva- 11 lent county divisions (as defined by the Bureau 12 of the Census) shall be used for purposes of de- 13 terminations of food deserts under this para- 14 graph. 15 ‘‘(C) DETERMINATION OF FOOD 16 DESERTS.—For purposes of determining wheth- 17 er a population census tract qualifies as a food 18 desert for purposes of this section, the Sec- 19 retary shall make such determinations in co- 20 ordination with the Secretary of Agriculture in 21 such manner as is determined appropriate, in- 22 cluding use of the Food Access Research Atlas 23 established by the Department of Agriculture. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1313.IH H1313 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 1313 IH ‘‘(2) GROCERIES.—The term ‘groceries’ 1 means— 2 ‘‘(A) fresh and frozen produce, 3 ‘‘(B) fresh and frozen meat and seafood, 4 ‘‘(C) dairy products, and 5 ‘‘(D) deli products, including sliced meats, 6 cheeses, and salads. 7 ‘‘(3) GROCERY STORE.—The term ‘grocery 8 store’ means a retail store for which forecasted sales 9 of groceries account for not less than 35 percen [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]