Congress funds food access at community health clinics for low-income patients
H.R. 10680 — Food Access in Community Health Centers Act of 2026 · Filed by George Latimer (D-NY) · 15 cosponsors · Introduced Oct 1, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to create a competitive grant program giving up to $500,000 per award to partnerships between community health centers and food banks or similar nonprofits. The grants fund physical food distribution spaces at or near clinics, mobile food vehicles, or operational costs for food access. The Secretary must report annually on the program's effectiveness in reducing food insecurity among clinic patients.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a straightforward grant program to expand food access at community health centers. It is a targeted public-health intervention addressing food insecurity among low-income patients, with no hidden provisions or narrow beneficiaries.
What the text implies
- Grant program success depends on appropriations; bill does not authorize funding amounts, only establishes the authority and framework.
- Partnerships must include both a federally qualified health center AND a nonprofit food organization; this may exclude some clinics in areas with limited food-bank infrastructure.
- Annual reporting requirement creates accountability but also administrative burden on HHS; effectiveness metrics are not pre-defined in statute.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill directly expands food access for vulnerable populations (patients at federally qualified health centers, who are predominantly low-income and uninsured). It creates no new restrictions on citizens' rights or remedies, imposes no costs on the public beyond appropriations, and pairs health and nutrition services at the point of care where they are most effective.
Who stands to gain
- Community health centers (as grant recipients)
- Food banks and emergency feeding nonprofits (as grant recipients and partners)
Named in the bill
Secretary of Health and Human Services, Community health centers (Federally Qualified Health Centers), Food banks, Food pantries, Hunger relief organizations, Nonprofit emergency feeding operations
Where it stands
15 cosponsors: 14 Democrats, 1 Republicans.
- Oct 1, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Oct 1, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Agriculture · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,822 characters) on Oct 3, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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