Bill Text: NJ A4702 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Chaptered

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Bill Title: "Hunger-Free Campus Act"; requires Secretary of Higher Education to establish grant program to address food insecurity among students enrolled in public institutions of higher education; appropriates $1 million.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 20-0)

Status: (Passed) 2019-05-09 - Approved P.L.2019, c.89. [A4702 Detail]

Download: New_Jersey-2018-A4702-Chaptered.html

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§§1-4 -

C.18A:62-60 to

18A:62-63

§5 - T&E

§6 - Approp.

 

P.L. 2019, CHAPTER 89, approved May 9, 2019

Assembly, No. 4702 (First Reprint)

 

 

An Act concerning food insecurity among students enrolled in public institutions of higher education, supplementing chapter 62 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes, and making an appropriation.

 

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

 

     1.    This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Hunger-Free Campus Act."

 

     2.    The Secretary of Higher Education shall establish a Hunger-Free Campus Grant Program. The purpose of the program shall be to provide grants to public institutions of higher education that have one or more campuses that are designated by the secretary as hunger-free campuses. The purpose of the grant funding shall be to:

     a.     address student hunger;

     b.    leverage more sustainable solutions to address basic food needs on campus;

     c.     raise awareness of services currently offered on campus which address basic food needs; and

     d.    continue to build strategic partnerships at the local, State, and national levels to address food insecurity among students.

 

     3.    In order to be designated as a hunger-free campus, the institution shall:

     a.     establish a ¹[hunger task force] Campus Hunger Task Force¹ that meets a minimum of three times per academic year to set at least two goals with action plans;

     b.    designate a staff member responsible for assisting students with enrollment in the New Jersey Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP);

     c.     provide options for students to utilize SNAP benefits at campus stores ¹that meet the federal standards set by the Food and Nutrition Service in the United States Department of Agriculture¹;

     d.    participate in an awareness day campaign activity and plan a campus awareness event during the National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week;

     e.     provide at least one physical food pantry on campus, or enable students to receive food through a separate, stigma-free arrangement;

     f.     develop a "Swipe Out Hunger" student meal credit sharing program, or designate a certain amount of funds for free meal vouchers that might otherwise be raised through a "Swipe Out Hunger" program; and

     g.    annually conduct a student survey on hunger, developed by the Secretary of Higher Education, and submit the results of the survey and a best practices campus profile to the secretary at a time prescribed by the secretary for inclusion in a comparative profile of each campus designated as a hunger-free campus. In the development of the survey, the secretary may utilize any existing surveys designed to collect information on food insecurity among students enrolled in public institutions of higher education.

 

     4.    The secretary shall allocate grant funding to each public institution of higher education that has one or more campuses designated by the secretary as a hunger-free campus in accordance with the criteria established pursuant to section 3 of this act. The secretary shall determine the amount of each grant which shall be used by the institution to further address food insecurity among students enrolled in the institution.

 

     5.    The secretary shall submit a report 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 two years after the establishment of the Hunger-Free Campus Grant Program. The report shall include, but not be limited to, the number and amounts of the grant awards, the impact the grant program has had on establishing additional hunger-free campuses at public institutions of higher education and reducing the number of students experiencing food insecurity, and recommendations on the expansion of the grant program.

 

     6.    There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of State the sum of $1,000,000 for the purpose of effectuating the provisions of this act.

 

     7.    This act shall take effect immediately.

 

 

                                

 

     "Hunger-Free Campus Act"; requires Secretary of Higher Education to establish grant program to address food insecurity among students enrolled in public institutions of higher education; appropriates $1 million.