Committee hears bill to standardize food‑access monitoring across Georgia

Representative Barry presented House Bill 996 as a statutory tool to measure and monitor food access across Georgia. He said the bill would adopt USDA-consistent thresholds (for example, more than one mile from a grocery store in urban areas or more than 10 miles in rural areas) and use a $2,000,000 annual-sales threshold to define a retail food store with the majority food departments of a traditional supermarket.

Barry said the bill contains no appropriation and is designed to improve transparency so that existing resources can be targeted. "What gets measured... gets addressed," he said, arguing that clear, consistent data will help align state and local strategies, community organizations and funders.

Committee members raised questions about data vintage and methodology (for example, whether Dollar General stores that have expanded produce sections would meet the definition), and about which agency — DFACS or an alternative such as University of Georgia extension services — would prepare reports and whether a fiscal note is required. Barry said he would provide the data years on request and acknowledged that staffing would need review.

The item was a hearing only; the committee did not vote on substantive changes during this session.