Food insecurity/hunger; Department of Social Services, et al., to develop statewide survey, report.

Plain English Breakdown

The exact composition of other relevant state agencies is not specified.

Developing a Survey on Food Insecurity

This bill requires several state departments to create a work group that will develop a survey about food insecurity and hunger in the state.

What This Bill Does

• It tells four state departments to form a team to make a statewide survey about people who don't have enough food.
• The team must coordinate with anti-hunger groups when making the questions for the survey.
• The bill requires the work group to prioritize efforts to align survey questions with states of similar population and diversity.
• By December 1, 2026, the team has to give a report about their work to the governor and lawmakers.

Who It Names or Affects

• State departments like Social Services, Agriculture, Health, and Aging and Rehabilitative Services
• People who don't have enough food

Terms To Know

Food insecurity

When people do not have enough healthy food to eat.

Work group

A team of people working together on a specific task, like making a survey.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how the survey will be used after it is made.
• It's unclear if other state agencies besides those named in the bill will join the work group.
• There are no details on who will fund or run the survey.

Official Summary Text

Department of Social Services; Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services; Department of Health; Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services; work group; food insecurity and hunger survey; report.
Directs the Department of Social Services, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the Department of Health, the Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services, and any other relevant state agencies to convene a work group to develop a statewide survey on food insecurity and hunger. The bill requires the work group to report its findings to the Governor and the General Assembly by December 1, 2026.

Current Bill Text

A BILL to direct the Department of Social Services, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the Department of Health, and the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services to convene a work group to develop a survey on food insecurity and hunger; report.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.
§ 1.
That the Department of Social Services, the Department of Agriculture
and Consumer Services
,
the
D
epartment of
H
ealth
, the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, and any other relevant state agencies

shall convene a stakeholder work group
to
develop a statewide
survey
on food insecurity and hunger.

In
designing

the
survey
, the work group shall
coordinate
, where possible,
with statewide and national anti-hunger groups to consider appropriate survey questions to replace data lost from the discontinuation of the United States Department of Agriculture Household Food Security Report
.
Additionally, the work group shall prioritize efforts to align survey questions with states of similar population and diversity to the
Commonwealth in order to establish comparative benchmarks.

The work group shall

report its findings
to the G
overnor and the G
eneral Assembly
by December 1, 202
6
.