The Hunger – Free Campus Act is advancing in the house and could go into effect on July 1.
This Hunger–Free Campus Grant Program is a part of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. HB 1245 was created to give grants and funds to postsecondary educational institutions to end food insecurity across different campuses. The grants will be prioritized to postsecondary institutions with the highest percentage of Pell Grant recipients.
The bill was introduced on Jan. 18, 2022; the Agriculture Department approved it and then moved it to the Education Department on Feb. 2, 2022. It was then postponed and withdrawn from consideration on March 12, 2022, and then it died in the education department on March 14, 2022.
Unique Peters, a second year pre-nursing student says, this program could relieve students of any stress they may have when it comes to receiving meals.
“I think that this act could benefit many students as well as myself, especially since I have been in a situation where affording food has become more difficult,” Peters said. “Many students struggle to afford necessities while balancing tuition, rent, and other expenses so I do believe that this act could provide many different resources to students through either food vouchers or connections with local food banks.”
Swipe Out Hunger is a nonprofit organization that works towards ending food insecurity among college students. More than $112 million has been distributed through Hunger Free Campus legislation. California, Washington, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Illinois, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Massachusetts have passed the Hunger-Free Campus Act.
The act has been introduced in other states, including Florida, Alabama, Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Indiana, Michigan, and New York.
Jada Richardson, a second-year engineering student, says programs like this can help improve access to food.
“A program like this would be beneficial to me since I do have to come out of pocket to get groceries and I don’t have a meal plan,” Richardson said.“Although we do have a food pantry on campus, I think that there still needs to be more programs and opportunities for students to get the help that they need, maybe even more food pantries if possible.”
The bill requires that a report detailing the impact of the pilot program be submitted to the Governor no later than January 1, 2027.