SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 2363

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  MARCH 21, 2022

      The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 2363.

      This bill:  (1) provides food banks and food pantries with a six month extension of the deadline set forth in section 3 of P.L.2020, c.117 (C.13:1E-99.128), which prohibits stores and food service businesses from selling or providing single-use plastic or paper carryout bags to customers; and (2) requires the Department of Environmental Protection, as part of the Statewide public information and education program it is required to conduct pursuant to section 8 of P.L.2020, c.117 (C.13:1E-99.133), to provide 500,000 free reusable carryout bags to the State’s food banks to be proportionally distributed based on the population served by each food bank.

      As used in the bill, “food bank” means the same as the term is defined in section 2 of P.L.1982, c.178 (C.24:4A-2), i.e., “a nonprofit food clearinghouse that solicits, stores, and distributes donations of edible but unmarketable surplus food.  The food is distributed to nonprofit organizations that feed the needy.”  The bill defines “food pantry” as “a nonprofit organization or government entity that distributes food to individuals in need of assistance, including, but not limited to, a soup kitchen, homeless shelter, or religious organization.”

FISCAL IMPACT:

      Fiscal information for this bill is currently unavailable.