Bill Text: TX HCR87 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Urging Congress to expand the Healthy Incentives Pilot for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients to communities across the country.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-18 - Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal [HCR87 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-HCR87-Comm_Sub.html
| 82R10299 BPG-D | ||
| By: Veasey, Naishtat | H.C.R. No. 87 | |
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| WHEREAS, During the past four decades, as Americans have | ||
| increased their consumption of highly processed foods, obesity | ||
| rates have soared among all age groups and have increased more than | ||
| fourfold among children ages 6 to 11; today, nearly a third of | ||
| children and adolescents are overweight or obese, which places them | ||
| at higher risk for a host of serious illnesses; obese children are | ||
| being diagnosed with health problems previously considered to be | ||
| adult illnesses, including heart disease, stroke, asthma, and | ||
| certain types of cancer; childhood obesity alone costs the United | ||
| States an estimated $14 billion in health care expenses, and it is | ||
| estimated that the obesity epidemic overall costs the nation $117 | ||
| billion per year in direct medical expenses and indirect costs; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Low-income individuals are particularly at risk for | ||
| obesity-related diseases; accordingly, the United States | ||
| Department of Agriculture has initiated an incentives-based | ||
| program to promote healthier eating among participants in the | ||
| Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as the | ||
| food stamp program; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The 2008 federal Farm Bill authorized $20 million | ||
| for USDA to test whether incentives to buy fresh produce can | ||
| increase the purchase of healthy foods; the Healthy Incentives | ||
| Pilot is being conducted in Hampden County, Massachusetts, where | ||
| 7,500 randomly selected SNAP households will receive a 30-cent | ||
| bonus for every dollar they spend on fruits and vegetables using | ||
| their SNAP Electronic Benefit Transfer cards; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Processed foods high in fat and sugar are less | ||
| expensive than fresh produce, and this pilot program represents a | ||
| significant step toward reducing the financial barriers that | ||
| prevent low-income residents from adopting healthier eating | ||
| habits; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Over the course of a year, more than one in seven | ||
| Americans participate in SNAP, half of them being children, and it | ||
| is vital that this program promote healthy eating as well as food | ||
| security; in a 2008 report, the U.S. Government Accountability | ||
| Office found encouraging results from studies examining the | ||
| effectiveness of financial incentives to increase fruit and | ||
| vegetable consumption among SNAP households; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The Healthy Incentives Pilot has the potential to | ||
| positively influence the diets of low-income individuals, thereby | ||
| reducing obesity and its attendant health care costs, and with such | ||
| critical outcomes at stake, the program should not be limited to | ||
| just one community; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the 82nd Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
| hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to expand the | ||
| Healthy Incentives Pilot to communities across the country; and, be | ||
| it further | ||
| RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official | ||
| copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to | ||
| the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of | ||
| Representatives of the United States Congress, to the secretary of | ||
| agriculture, and to all the members of the Texas delegation to | ||
| Congress with the request that this resolution be entered in the | ||
| Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United | ||
| States of America. | ||
