Bill Text: NJ A4270 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Establishes task force to examine issues and develop recommendations concerning student access to adequate food and housing while enrolled at institutions of higher education.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-06-27 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Higher Education Committee [A4270 Detail]

Download: New_Jersey-2018-A4270-Introduced.html

ASSEMBLY, No. 4270

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

218th LEGISLATURE

 

INTRODUCED JUNE 27, 2018

 


 

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman  YVONNE LOPEZ

District 19 (Middlesex)

Assemblywoman  JOANN DOWNEY

District 11 (Monmouth)

Assemblyman  ERIC HOUGHTALING

District 11 (Monmouth)

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Establishes task force to examine issues and develop recommendations concerning student access to adequate food and housing while enrolled at institutions of higher education.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As introduced.

  


An Act establishing the Task Force on Food and Housing Insecurity Among College Students.

 

     Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

     1.    a.  There is established the Task Force on Food and Housing Insecurity Among College Students.  The purpose of the task force is to examine issues related to the economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food and housing among students enrolled in institutions of higher education, and to develop recommendations to help alleviate the insecurity in order to allow those students to meet their educational goals.      

     b.    The task force shall consist of 13 members as follows: the Secretary of Higher Education, ex officio, or a designee; the Executive Director of the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority, ex officio, or a designee; the Commissioner of the Department of Human Services, ex officio, or a designee; the Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs, ex officio, or a designee; five members appointed by the Governor, including a representative from a food bank located in each of the northern, central, and southern regions of the State; and two students who attend institutions of higher education in the State who are recipients of the New Jersey Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); two members appointed by the President of the Senate, including the president of a public research university or a designee, and the president of a State college or university established pursuant to chapter 64 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes, or a designee; and two members appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly, including the president of a county college or a designee, and the president of an independent institution of higher education or a designee.

 

     2.    Appointments to the task force shall be made within 30 days after the effective date of this act.  Vacancies in the membership of the task force shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments were made.  Members of the task force shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for necessary expenditures incurred in the performance of their duties as members of the task force within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the task force for its purposes.

 

     3.    The task force shall organize as soon as practicable following the appointment of its members, but not later than 60 days after the effective date of this act.  The task force shall choose a chairperson from among its members and shall appoint a secretary who need not be a member of the task force.

     4.    The Office of the Secretary of Higher Education shall provide such stenographical, clerical, and other administrative assistants, and such professional staff as the task force requires to carry out its work.  The task force also shall be entitled to call to its assistance and avail itself of the services of the employees of any State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau, commission, or agency as it may require and as may be available for its purposes. 

 

     5.    It shall be the duty of the task force to examine issues related to the lack of adequate food and housing among students enrolled in institutions of higher education, and the social and economic conditions that lead to these circumstances.  The task force shall develop recommendations that address these conditions in order to allow students to meet their educational goals.  The task force shall study and consider issues including, but not limited to, the following:

     a.     the identification and percentage of college students who experience limited or uncertain access to adequate food and housing and the impact that insecurity has on their ability to successfully meet their educational goals;

     b.    the evaluation and expansion of food banks and pantries, food recovery programs, meal plans, benefits programs, housing and residential assistance, and other programs designed to alleviate food and housing insecurity;

     c.     the amount of funding that may be necessary for institutions of higher education to establish new programs or expand existing programs designed to alleviate food and housing insecurity;

     d.    an examination of other states which have implemented programs that have successfully reduced the number and percentage of college students who experience food and housing insecurity;

     e.     the manner in which SNAP could be used or expanded on college campuses to address food insecurity among students; and

     f.     any other proposals that the task force determines would address access to adequate food and housing by college students.

 

     6.    a.  The task force shall issue a final report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), no later than one year after the task force organizes. 

     b.    The task force shall expire 30 days after the issuance of its final report.

 

     7.    This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

 

     This bill establishes a 13-member Task Force on Food and Housing Insecurity Among College Students.  The task force will consist of: the Secretary of Higher Education, the Executive Director of the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority, the Commissioner of the Department of Human Services, and the Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs, or their designees; five members appointed by the Governor, including a representative from a food bank located in each of the northern, central, and southern regions of the State; and two students who attend institutions of higher education in the State who are recipients of the New Jersey Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); two members appointed by the President of the Senate, including the president of a public research university, and the president of a State college or university, or their designees; and two members appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly, including the president of a county college, and the president of an independent institution of higher education, or their designees.

     It will be the duty of the task force to examine issues related to the lack of adequate food and housing among students enrolled in institutions of higher education, and the social and economic conditions that lead to these circumstances.  The task force will develop recommendations that address these conditions in order to allow students to meet their educational goals.  The task force will study and consider issues including, but not limited to:

·         the identification and percentage of college students who experience limited or uncertain access to adequate food and housing and the impact that insecurity has on their ability to successfully meet their educational goals;

·         the evaluation and expansion of food banks and pantries, food recovery programs, meal plans, benefits programs, housing and residential assistance, and other programs designed to alleviate food and housing insecurity; and

·         the amount of funding that may be necessary for institutions of higher education to establish new programs or expand existing programs designed to alleviate food and housing insecurity.

     The bill directs the task force to issue a final report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor and Legislature no later than one year after its organizational meeting. The task force will expire 30 days after the submission of the final report.

feedback