1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to health; appropriating money for the 
  1.3             nutritional supplement program; requiring a study. 
  1.4   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.5      Section 1.  [APPROPRIATIONS.] 
  1.6      Subdivision 1.  [OUTREACH STUDY.] (a) $150,000 is 
  1.7   appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner of health 
  1.8   to conduct an outreach study on participation in the nutritional 
  1.9   supplement program under Minnesota Statutes, sections 145.891 to 
  1.10  145.897.  The study shall include: 
  1.11     (1) interviews with at least 20 local WIC offices; 
  1.12     (2) interviews with WIC participants, potential WIC 
  1.13  participants, and human service providers in local communities; 
  1.14     (3) identifying a target audience for outreach and the best 
  1.15  approach to delivering information about the WIC program; 
  1.16     (4) developing projected biennium costs to develop and 
  1.17  implement an outreach strategy; 
  1.18     (5) developing projected biennium costs for increasing 
  1.19  participation in the WIC program; and 
  1.20     (6) providing recommendations on how state and local WIC 
  1.21  offices can coordinate their outreach efforts. 
  1.22     (b) The commissioner may contract with an independent 
  1.23  social marketing consulting agency to conduct the study and may 
  1.24  create an advisory task force that includes: 
  2.1      (1) the commissioner of health, or a designee; 
  2.2      (2) the director of the nutritional supplement program, or 
  2.3   a designee; 
  2.4      (3) two members of the house of representatives, appointed 
  2.5   by the speaker of the house; 
  2.6      (4) two members of the senate, appointed by the president 
  2.7   of the senate; 
  2.8      (5) three representatives of local WIC offices, two of 
  2.9   which must be from outside the seven-county metropolitan area; 
  2.10     (6) a representative of the North Central Second Harvest 
  2.11  food bank; 
  2.12     (7) a representative of the Urban Coalition; and 
  2.13     (8) a representative of Minnesota FoodShare. 
  2.14     Subd. 2.  [CONTINGENCY FUNDING.] $4,000,000 is appropriated 
  2.15  from the general fund to the commissioner of health for the 
  2.16  nutritional supplement program to cover costs incurred by a 
  2.17  decrease in federal funding for the nutritional supplement 
  2.18  program and an increase in program participation.