Committee approves bill to let churches and nonprofits serve hot meals outside industrial kitchens in emergencies

Representative Robert Dval told the Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture that House Bill 281 would streamline the process for churches and nonprofits to provide hot meals to homeless people and to those displaced by declared natural disasters.

Dval said current law requires an industrial-grade kitchen with specific plumbing requirements, a standard many small nonprofits and churches cannot meet, and that the bill is designed to allow quicker, more practical food-service options when time is of the essence. “Current law requires an industrial-grade kitchen with specific plumbing requirements,” he said, noting the change would expedite aid in emergencies.

Senator Boswell described the bill’s intent as commonsense and urged support; after a motion and second, the committee voted and the chairman announced the bill passed unanimously and would be placed on the consent calendar. The transcript does not record a precise roll-call tally.