Healthy Food Financing Initiative Reauthorization Act of 2025
This bill, the Healthy Food Financing Initiative Reauthorization Act of 2025, would amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to provide mandatory funding for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI). It replaces the current funding approach with a fixed annual appropriation drawn from the funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), a USDA financing entity. The act sets explicit funding levels for HFFI starting in fiscal year 2025 and increasing each year through 2029, then continuing at $50 million per year or more thereafter. The intent is to ensure stable, recurring support for financing projects that improve access to healthy foods in underserved communities, such as grocery stores, farmers markets, and other healthy-food initiatives. In practical terms, the bill would lock in annual funding that must be used to run HFFI, rather than leaving funding to annual appropriations debates. As a result, it could bolster rural and urban efforts to increase healthy food access and support related economic development. The proposal relies on CCC funds to support this program and would require congressional approval to become law.
Key Points
- 1The bill would establish mandatory funding for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, replacing a discretionary funding structure with a fixed annual obligation from CCC funds.
- 2It sets a clear funding schedule: $25 million for FY2025; $30 million for FY2026; $35 million for FY2027; $40 million for FY2028; and $50 million for FY2029 and every year thereafter.
- 3Funding would come from the Commodity Credit Corporation and be used to carry out Section 243 of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (i.e., to administer HFFI).
- 4The change would codify long-term, stable funding for HFFI, aimed at expanding access to healthy foods in underserved communities by supporting financing for grocery stores, farmers markets, and related projects.
- 5The bill is introduced in the Senate (sponsored by Senators Gillibrand and colleagues) and would require passage by both chambers and signature by the President to become law; as introduced, it is not yet enacted.