Resource

2026 Washington State Advocacy Agenda

Statewide Hunger Relief—ACTIVELY SUPPORT increased funding for state nutrition assistance, hunger relief programs, and food banking capacity.

• Response to federal USDA & SNAP cuts, as recommended by Washington State’s:
  • Department of Social and Health Services – SNAP, Food Assistance Program
  • Department of Health – WIC
  • Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction – Sun Bucks
• Implement Food Policy Forum Recommendations
  • Food system coordination for food security
  • Improve eligibility and access for food assistance programs
  • Promote sourcing surplus Washington-grown food for hunger relief, balancing food security with agricultural sustainability
• HB 2211, Medically tailored meals
• SB 6006, Exempting food banks from the retail sales tax imposed on certain services

Encouraging Food Donation—ACTIVELY SUPPORT policies and investments to encourage and support food donation practices, including efforts to achieve the state’s goal of a 50% reduction in wasted food by the year 2030.

• Fund programs to source surplus food from Washington farmers, growers, and producers
• Implement Food Donation Workgroup Recommendations (Dept of Ecology)
  • Prioritize technical assistance to address barriers and standardize food donation best practices
  • Strengthen food donation through scalable pilots and infrastructure
  • Identify sustainable funding to expand food donations
  • Implement statewide education and outreach campaigns
  • Advance statewide data tracking through the Food Data Hub to support food rescue and donation
  • Support local health jurisdictions in guiding safe food donation and connecting with hunger relief organizations
  • Invest in school food rescue infrastructure and programs
  • Develop a statewide collaborative food donation and recovery map

Statewide Food Security Strategy—ACTIVELY SUPPORT policies and investments to align food security strategies across state agencies.

• HB 2238, Statewide Food Security Strategy
• HB 2463, Washington Farmers Feeding Families Act (Farm to Food Bank)
• HB 2369, Farm to School
• HB 2616, State Farm Bill
• HB 2297, Grocery Access

Tax Code Equity—ACTIVELY SUPPORT measures to balance Washington’s regressive tax code while providing more revenue for poverty reduction and community investments.

• HB 2100, Well Washington Fund
• Millionaire’s Tax