Congress funds food-bank cold storage in rural and Tribal communities
H.R. 6834 — STORE Act of 2025 · Filed by Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced Dec 18, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill expands federal grants for food-bank infrastructure in rural and underserved communities. It increases annual funding from $15 million to $25 million (fiscal years 2026–2030), broadens eligible recipients to include Tribal and governmental organizations, and allows grants to cover mobile delivery, storage facilities, and refrigerated vehicles. It also mandates a $1 million study of national cold-storage shortages for food banks.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a straightforward increase in federal grants for food-bank cold-storage and delivery infrastructure, with expanded eligibility and use cases. It is a targeted public-health and food-security measure, not a tax provision, regulatory change, or private carve-out.
What the text implies
- Expansion of eligible recipients to include governmental and Tribal organizations may shift grant distribution away from traditional nonprofit food banks toward public agencies, potentially affecting nonprofit funding patterns.
- The 10% administrative-cost allowance (new provision) may incentivize larger, more bureaucratic grant applications and could reduce the proportion of funds reaching direct food distribution.
- Mobile and home delivery expansion may create new operational demands on food banks without corresponding training or technical-assistance funding.
- The national study (Section 3) is unfunded beyond $1 million and may underestimate actual cold-storage needs if the study scope is broad.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill increases public funding for food-bank infrastructure serving rural and underserved communities, expands eligibility to include Tribal and governmental organizations, and enables mobile and home delivery options—all of which improve food access for low-income and remote populations. The study requirement provides data to guide future investment.
Who stands to gain
- Food banks and food pantries (nonprofit and public)
- Tribal food-assistance organizations
- State and local government food-assistance programs
- Refrigeration and delivery-vehicle manufacturers (indirect, via grant spending)
Named in the bill
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. § 7501 et seq.), State agencies, Tribal organizations, Food banks, Food pantries, Emergency food organizations
Where it stands
3 cosponsors: 3 Democrats.
- Dec 18, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Dec 18, 2025 — 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 (3,675 characters) on Aug 31, 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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