Eye On Illinois: Effort to boost local food growers, distributors hits legislative wall

House Bill 3701 posed a question Illinois was overdue in answering, and now the wait will continue.

My April 24 column explored the Good Food Purchasing Law, which state Rep. Sonya Harper, D-Chicago, proposed in February. According to Capitol News Illinois, the bill would relaunch a policy task force and take steps toward having state-run institutions start buying from local farmers instead of just the lowest bidder.

One month later, CNI and Investigate Midwest reported on the fate of the idea now that lawmakers missed a deadline to advance Harper’s HB 3701 along with Senate Bill 2187, which also would’ve “significantly changed state food procurement practices, which advocates say are outdated and divert millions of public dollars out of state each year, instead of going to local farmers,” said Jennifer Bamberg of Investigate Midwest. “The bills would have also raised standards for food companies’ labor, environmental and animal welfare practices.”

The initial column drew some good feedback, such as the reader who suggested, “Perhaps government institutions could learn from the grocery chains that have integrated produce from local farmers into their stores.”

But for today’s purposes, this matter serves as a case study in how practical ideas can still hit a wall in Springfield.

State Sen. Willie Preston, D-Chicago, sponsored SB 2187. He called the situation a “missed opportunity.” The opposite is true of the Department of Central Management Services – subject of a victory lap in Thursday’s column – which said the current statewide food purchasing process is already complex and shouldn’t incur more red tape.

Balancing those competing interests is the heart of the debate: is it worth making state agencies and workers jump through hoops, and perhaps directly spend more public money buying food, to realize the benefits of boosting the state’s farmers and wholesalers, whose economic success has tangible ripple effects through local markets?

But to hear Harper tell it, the issue isn’t so much inability to reach a compromise as unwillingness to negotiate.

“This bill has been out there,” Harper said. “If you had an issue with it, you guys know how it goes. Send me some language that would make it better. Let’s have that conversation before the day that I come to committee.”

For bill opponents, that’s a good strategy. Why come to the table if you’d rather not see the bill pass in any form?

Statehouse proposals never really die. Not content to yield on the issue, Harper hopes to pass a joint resolution to keep the task force active and “encourage, but not require, state agencies to share details about their food purchasing practices,” Bamberg said (tinyurl.com/LocalFoodBillsIL).

This wasn’t the most pressing 2025 issue, but even having the discussions can be productive.

Government takes time.

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.