Bill Text: NY S02913 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Provides grants to address food insecurity among students at public institutions for higher education.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 21-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-01-03 - REFERRED TO HIGHER EDUCATION [S02913 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S02913-Amended.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         2913--A

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    January 25, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sens. MAY, MYRIE, ADDABBO, BRESLIN, CHU, COMRIE, COONEY,
          GOUNARDES, HARCKHAM, HOYLMAN-SIGAL, JACKSON,  KENNEDY,  KRUEGER,  LIU,
          RIVERA,  SKOUFIS,  THOMAS  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed  to  the  Committee  on  Higher  Education  --
          committee  discharged,  bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
          recommitted to said committee

        AN ACT to amend the education  law,  in  relation  to  establishing  the
          "hunger-free campus act"

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited  as  the  "hunger-
     2  free campus act".
     3    §  2. The education law is amended by adding a new section 319 to read
     4  as follows:
     5    § 319. Hunger-free campus grant program.  1.  The  commissioner  shall
     6  establish  the hunger-free campus grant program pursuant to this section
     7  and regulations of the commissioner adopted for such purpose. Within the
     8  amounts appropriated for this  purpose,  the  commissioner  shall  award
     9  grants  on  a competitive basis to public institutions for higher educa-
    10  tion which have one or more campuses that are designated by the  commis-
    11  sioner as hunger-free campuses.
    12    2. The purpose of the grant funding shall be to:
    13    a. address student hunger;
    14    b.  leverage more sustainable solutions to address basic food needs on
    15  campus;
    16    c. raise awareness of  services  currently  offered  on  campus  which
    17  address basic needs; and
    18    d.  continue  to build strategic partnerships at the local, state, and
    19  national levels to address food insecurity among students.
    20    3. a. For an institution to be designated  as  a  hunger-free  campus,
    21  such institution shall:

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD05558-03-3

        S. 2913--A                          2

     1    (i)  establish  a  hunger  task force which includes student represen-
     2  tatives from the student body that meets a minimum of  three  times  per
     3  academic year to set at least two goals with action plans;
     4    (ii)  designate a staff member responsible for assisting students with
     5  enrollment in the  state's  supplemental  nutrition  assistance  program
     6  (SNAP);
     7    (iii)  institute  a  system  of  educating  the student body about the
     8  state's supplemental nutrition assistance program. This may include, but
     9  is not limited to, including information about SNAP in all financial aid
    10  information, including information about SNAP in new student orientation
    11  materials, including SNAP information on class syllabi, posting informa-
    12  tion about SNAP in all on-campus housing;
    13    (iv) provide options for students to utilize SNAP benefits  at  campus
    14  stores  or  provide  students  with information on establishments in the
    15  surrounding area of campus where they can utilize SNAP EBT benefits;
    16    (v) hold an awareness  day  campaign  activity  or  event  during  the
    17  national  hunger  and  homelessness  awareness  week  that includes SNAP
    18  outreach and application assistance;
    19    (vi) provide at least one physical food pantry on  campus,  or  enable
    20  students  to  receive  food through a separate, stigma-free arrangement.
    21  Such campus may partner with a local food bank or food  pantry  to  meet
    22  the requirements of this subparagraph;
    23    (vii)  develop  a student meal credit donation program, or designate a
    24  certain amount of funds for free food vouchers or gift cards that can be
    25  used at campus stores, eateries or local establishments.  Each  institu-
    26  tion  of  higher  education  may  develop  its own procedures for a meal
    27  donation program; and
    28    (viii) annually conduct or participate in a student survey  on  hunger
    29  and  submit  the  results  of  the  survey to the commissioner at a time
    30  prescribed by the commissioner for inclusion in a comparative profile of
    31  each campus designated as a hunger-free campus.
    32    4. The commissioner shall allocate grant funding to each public insti-
    33  tution of higher education that has one or more campuses  designated  by
    34  the commissioner as a hunger-free campus in accordance with the criteria
    35  established  pursuant  to subdivision three of this section. The commis-
    36  sioner shall utilize the hunger-free campus funding formula to determine
    37  the amount of each grant which shall  be  used  by  the  institution  to
    38  further  address food insecurity among students enrolled in the institu-
    39  tion.  The commissioner or his or her designee shall  prioritize  grants
    40  to  institutions of higher education with the highest percentage of Pell
    41  grant eligible students enrolled in  the  student  body.  Following  the
    42  awarding  of  such grant funding, recipients will be expected to provide
    43  basic information to the department on how such grant  award  was  used,
    44  its deliverables and outcomes.
    45    5.  The commissioner shall submit a report to the governor, the tempo-
    46  rary president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly,  no  later
    47  than  two  years after the establishment of the hunger-free campus grant
    48  program. The report shall include, but not be limited to, the number and
    49  amounts of the grant awards, examples of how students were supported  by
    50  the  program  and  how this funding helped them continue their education
    51  through to completion, examples of the impact the grant program has  had
    52  on  establishing  additional hunger-free campuses at public institutions
    53  of higher education and reducing the  number  of  students  experiencing
    54  food  insecurity, and recommendations regarding the potential establish-
    55  ment of an annual appropriation for the grant program.
    56    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
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