H-3517.1  _______________________________________________

                          HOUSE BILL 2705

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      53rd Legislature     1994 Regular Session

By Representatives Roland, Eide, Karahalios, Patterson, Holm, Kremen, Rayburn, Campbell, Wineberry, Basich and Springer

Read first time 01/21/94.  Referred to Committee on Human Services.

Requiring a study of purchasing habits of food stamp recipients and a nutritional guide to be provided to all public assistance recipients.

    AN ACT Relating to public assistance; adding a new section to chapter 74.04 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 74.04 RCW to read as follows:

    The department shall provide a nutritional guide to all public assistance recipients.  The nutritional guide shall explain good nutrition habits, detail foods within each of the major food groups that are readily available, and detail sample grocery lists that fall within monthly food stamp allocations and meet essential nutritional standards.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  The department of social and health services shall develop, implement, and obtain all necessary waivers to conduct a pilot program to study the food purchasing habits of food stamp recipients.  The program shall be instituted in an area of the state where grocery stores with detailed receipts are readily accessible, and shall include enough participants and be for a period of time sufficient to make a detailed analysis of food purchasing patterns statistically relevant.  Food stamp recipients participating in the study shall be required to shop at grocery stores that provide detailed receipts and shall turn in all food receipts prior to receiving the next month's food stamp allotment.  All information identifying individual food stamp recipients who participate in the study shall be kept confidential, and participants shall not be penalized as a result of their participation in the study.

    The department shall prepare a report on the study that details the food purchase patterns of the participants, breaking down purchase percentages within established food groups by percentage of the total food stamp allotment, and determining whether the purchase patterns within the study meet essential nutritional norms.  The department shall submit the report to the legislature within three months of completion of the study.

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