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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2015 - 2016
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | September 17, 2015 02:44 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Michael J. Driscoll |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Food Donation Tax Credit |
| In the near future, I plan to introduce legislation that would provide for a Food Donation Tax Credit. The average American family of four throws away an estimated $1,500 worth of food every year, and overall, retailers and consumers waste nearly a third of the country’s food supply. Meanwhile, 14% of U.S. households are considered food insecure – they don’t have enough food to sufficiently feed themselves. Pennsylvania is an agricultural rich state blessed with abundant food production. Unfortunately, there are barriers to getting locally grown and sourced foods to hungry Pennsylvanians. Currently, Pennsylvania has no tax benefit for donating food, and farmers, processors and retailers must bear the burden of harvesting, storing and transporting crops and other foods before donating them. Many are eager to donate, but can’t afford the donation’s additional costs. This legislation would help solve that problem by giving Pennsylvania farmers and retailers a tax credit on the food they donate to a regional food bank or emergency food provider. The tax credit would be 15% of the donation’s value, up to $10,000 per taxpayer and the total available tax credits would be $5 million per year. Other states including Oregon, Iowa and Missouri have established comparable tax credit programs for these types of food donations. Please join me in sponsoring this important legislation. |
Introduced as HB1641