Bill Text: NY S01151 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Establishes the "hunger-free campus act" to address food insecurity among students at public and private higher education institutions.
Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 17-1)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-06-01 - referred to higher education [S01151 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-S01151-Amended.html
Bill Title: Establishes the "hunger-free campus act" to address food insecurity among students at public and private higher education institutions.
Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 17-1)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-06-01 - referred to higher education [S01151 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-S01151-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1151--B 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 7, 2021 ___________ Introduced by Sens. KAPLAN, GAUGHRAN, KRUEGER, RIVERA, THOMAS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- 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"; and making an appropriation therefor 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 and nonprofit private insti- 10 tutions for higher education which have one or more campuses that are 11 designated by the commissioner 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 food 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 a four-year institution to be designated as a hunger-free 21 campus, such institution shall: EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD05613-07-1S. 1151--B 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) provide options for students to utilize SNAP benefits at campus 8 stores or provide students with information on establishments in the 9 surrounding area of campus where they can utilize SNAP EBT benefits; 10 (iv) hold an awareness day campaign activity or event during the 11 national hunger and homelessness awareness week; 12 (v) provide at least one physical food pantry on campus, or enable 13 students to receive food through a separate, stigma-free arrangement. 14 Such campus may partner with a local food bank or food pantry to meet 15 the requirements of this subparagraph; 16 (vi) develop a student meal credit donation program, or designate a 17 certain amount of funds for free food vouchers that might otherwise be 18 raised through such a program. Each institution of higher education may 19 develop its own procedures for a meal donation program; and 20 (vii) annually conduct a student survey on hunger, developed by the 21 commissioner, and submit the results of the survey and a best practices 22 campus profile to the commissioner at a time prescribed by the commis- 23 sioner for inclusion in a comparative profile of each campus designated 24 as a hunger-free campus. In the development of the survey, the commis- 25 sioner shall utilize any existing surveys designed to collect informa- 26 tion on food insecurity among students enrolled in public and nonprofit 27 private institutions of higher education. 28 b. For a two-year institution to be designated as a hunger-free 29 campus, it shall meet all of the requirements for four-year institutions 30 as set forth in paragraph a of this subdivision, with the exception of 31 the requirements in subparagraphs (iii) and (vi) of such paragraph. 32 4. The commissioner shall allocate grant funding to each public and 33 nonprofit private institution of higher education that has one or more 34 campuses designated by the commissioner as a hunger-free campus in 35 accordance with the criteria established pursuant to subdivision three 36 of this section. The commissioner shall determine the amount of each 37 grant which shall be used by the institution to further address food 38 insecurity among students enrolled in the institution. The commissioner 39 or his or her designee shall prioritize grants to institutions of higher 40 education with the highest percentage of Pell grant recipients enrolled 41 in the student body. Following the awarding of such grant funding, 42 recipients will be expected to provide basic information to the depart- 43 ment on how such grant award was used, its deliverables and outcomes. 44 5. The commissioner shall submit a report to the governor, the tempo- 45 rary president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly, no later 46 than two years after the establishment of the hunger-free campus grant 47 program. The report shall include, but not be limited to, the number and 48 amounts of the grant awards, the impact the grant program has had on 49 establishing additional hunger-free campuses at public and private 50 institutions of higher education and reducing the number of students 51 experiencing food insecurity, and recommendations regarding the poten- 52 tial establishment of an annual appropriation for the grant program. 53 § 3. The sum of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) to be distributed in 54 the 2023 fiscal year and the sum of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) to 55 be distributed in the 2024 fiscal year is hereby appropriated to the 56 department of education from any moneys in the state treasury in theS. 1151--B 3 1 general fund to the credit of the state purposes account, not otherwise 2 appropriated, and made immediately available, for the purpose of carry- 3 ing out the provisions of this act. Such moneys shall be payable on the 4 audit and warrant of the comptroller on vouchers certified or approved 5 by the commissioner of education in the manner prescribed by law. 6 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
