§ 82 — Gifts to food banks fund

§ 82. Gifts to food banks fund. 1. There is hereby established in the\nsole custody of the commissioner of taxation and finance a special fund\nto be known as the "gifts to food banks fund". Monies in the fund shall\nbe kept separate from and not commingled with other funds held in the\nsole custody of the commissioner of taxation and finance.\n 2. Such fund shall consist of all revenues received by the department\nof taxation and finance pursuant to the provisions of section six\nhundred twenty-five-a of the tax law and all other money appropriated,\ncredited, or transferred thereto from any other fund or source pursuant\nto law. Nothing in this section shall prevent the state from receiving\ngrants, gifts or bequests for the purposes of the fund as defined in\nthis section and depositing them into the fund according to law.\n 3. Monies of the fund shall, after appropriation by the legislature,\nbe made available to the department of health for grants to regional\nfood banks, organized to serve specific regions of the state, that\ngenerally collect and redistribute food donations to organizations\nserving persons in need. Monies shall be payable from the fund by the\ncommissioner of taxation and finance on vouchers approved by the\ncommissioner of health. The commissioner of health shall promulgate\nrules and regulations necessary for the distribution of such grants.\n 4. To the extent practicable, the commissioner of health shall ensure\nthat all monies received during a fiscal year are expended prior to the\nend of that fiscal year.\n 5. On or before the first day of February each year, the comptroller\nshall certify to the governor, temporary president of the senate,\nspeaker of the assembly, chair of the senate finance committee and chair\nof the assembly ways and means committee, the amount of money deposited\nin the gifts to food banks fund during the preceding calendar year as\nthe result of revenue derived pursuant to section six hundred\ntwenty-five-a of the tax law.\n 6. On or before the first day of February each year, the commissioner\nof health shall provide a written report to the temporary president of\nthe senate, speaker of the assembly, chair of the senate finance\ncommittee, chair of the assembly ways and means committee, chair of the\nsenate committee on social services, chair of the assembly social\nservices committee, and the public. Such report shall include how the\nmonies of the fund were utilized during the preceding calendar year and\nshall include:\n (a) the amount of money disbursed from the fund;\n (b) the recipients of awards from the fund;\n (c) the amount awarded to each recipient;\n (d) the purposes for which such awards were granted; and\n (e) a summary financial plan for such monies which shall include\nestimates of all receipts and all disbursements for the current and\nsucceeding fiscal years, along with the actual results from the prior\nfiscal year.\n