2020: A STRONG YEAR IN THE FIGHT TO #ENDHUNGER

The Florida Legislature season begins Tuesday, January 14th. For most, that won’t mean much, but for Florida Impact to End Hunger, it is a BIG day. We are supporting legislation that would provide access to nutritious meals for low-income children participating in parks and recreation programs. This sounds like a simple change but advocating for legislative change is anything but simple.

With almost 3,000 bills already filed in the House, legislators must compete to even get a bill placed on a committee calendar. After a bill is drafted, it must travel through several committees before it reaches the House floor. The same thing has to happen in the Senate with a companion bill before they are brought up for a vote by the full House and Senate. With all the bills and all the legislators trying to get heard in just 60 days, one little bill—even one that would help hungry kids—can easily get lost in the shuffle.

We are happy to have strong sponsors: House Representative Duran is behind HB 83 and Senator Book is behind SB 668. Both of them are working hard to move forward. Senator Book was able to get a vote before session even started on SB 668 from its first committee! Now that the bill is moving in the Senate, Representative Duran is optimistic that his bill will be placed on a calendar. Oh my! All this and we haven’t even started session.

Last year Senator Book filed the bill, but it didn’t move out of committee early enough, despite the fact that Florida Impact to End Hunger staff and board advocated strongly in favor of the bill’s passage. But this is the year!

You can help, too. Please take a moment (I promise, only a moment) to sign on in support of the Government Sponsored Parks and Recreation Bill here: https://forms.gle/XBEQ8HDwSJ86twVB6

Let’s make this a strong year in the fight to #EndHunger.

Trudy Novicki

President/CEO

Florida Impact to End Hunger

#HB83 #SB668