Assemblyman Charles D. Fall has introduced legislation that would create a tax credit for restaurants that donate meals to address food insecurity while supporting local small businesses.<\/p>\n
Fall announced the proposal at Lebanese Eatery on Port Richmond Avenue in Staten Island, alongside nonprofit organization Rethink Food. The bill was developed through Fall\u2019s partnership with the organization and informed by work connecting local restaurants with families facing food insecurity.<\/p>\n
Under the proposal, New York state restaurants would be eligible for up to $10,000 per year, per location for donated meals. Federal support could provide up to $50,000 per year, per location, capped at $800 million nationwide.<\/p>\n
\u201cFood insecurity is a daily reality for too many New Yorkers, and it affects health, stability, and dignity all at once,\u201d Fall said. \u201cThis tax credit turns local restaurants into anchors for community care. It keeps small businesses strong while ensuring families, seniors, and neighbors have access to real, nutritious meals.\u201d<\/p>\n
The legislation aims to mobilize local businesses to expand access to nutritious meals while keeping dollars circulating in local economies. Fall said the proposal comes at a time when federal uncertainty around SNAP benefits and food assistance programs has strained working families.<\/p>\n
Tarek Wazzan, owner of Lebanese Eatery, said restaurants want to help their neighbors but need support. \u201cAssemblymember Fall\u2019s efforts recognize that small businesses can be powerful partners in supporting our neighbors,\u201d Wazzan said.<\/p>\n
Matt Jozwiak, founder and CEO of Rethink Food, said the tax credit would enable restaurants to sustainably serve their communities at scale. \u201cChef-owners like Tarek want to do more for their neighbors, and the Chef-to-Community tax credit gives them the support to do just that,\u201d Jozwiak said.<\/p>\n
Andrew Rigie, executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, called the tax credit \u201ca critically important tool to support small businesses and workers who give back to their communities, sustain this vital work, and encourage more restaurants to participate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rethink Food has provided more than 33 million meals to local communities since 2017, turned over 3 million pounds of donated food into meals, and directed more than $144 million to small local restaurants and food businesses.<\/p>\n
The bill has been formally introduced in the New York State Assembly and will be advanced through the legislative process in the coming session.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Assemblyman Charles D. Fall has introduced legislation that would create a tax credit for restaurants that donate meals…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75860,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-75859","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}