Student Food Security Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1569 To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to expand the eligibility of students to participate in the supplemental nutrition assistance pro- gram, establish college student food insecurity demonstration programs, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 11, 2021 Ms. WARREN (for herself, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. SANDERS, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. DURBIN, and Mr. MARKEY) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to expand the eligibility of students to participate in the supple- mental nutrition assistance program, establish college student food insecurity demonstration programs, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Student Food Security Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1569.IS S1569 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1569 IS (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 1 this Act is as follows: 2 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. TITLE I—STUDENT ELIGIBILITY FOR NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS Sec. 101. Eligibility of students to participate in the supplemental nutrition as- sistance program. Sec. 102. Communication of information on student eligibility for nutrition as- sistance programs. Sec. 103. Demonstration program. Sec. 104. Effective date. TITLE II—REDUCING STUDENT FOOD INSECURITY Sec. 201. Data sharing. Sec. 202. Questions on food and housing insecurity in national postsecondary student aid study. Sec. 203. Grants to address student basic needs. TITLE I—STUDENT ELIGIBILITY 3 FOR NUTRITION ASSISTANCE 4 PROGRAMS 5 SEC. 101. ELIGIBILITY OF STUDENTS TO PARTICIPATE IN 6 THE SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSIST- 7 ANCE PROGRAM. 8 (a) DEFINITION OF HOUSEHOLD.—Section 3(m)(4) 9 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 10 2012(m)(4)) is amended— 11 (1) by striking ‘‘(4) In no event’’ and inserting 12 the following: 13 ‘‘(4) INSTITUTION OR BOARDING HOUSE.— 14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 15 subparagraph (B), in no event’’; and 16 (2) by adding at the end the following: 17 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1569.IS S1569 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1569 IS ‘‘(B) STUDENTS.—An individual (including 1 any dependents of the individual) may con- 2 stitute a household if the individual is a student 3 and resident of an institution of higher edu- 4 cation (as defined in section 102 of the Higher 5 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002)).’’. 6 (b) ELIGIBILITY OF STUDENTS.—Section 6 of the 7 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2015) is 8 amended— 9 (1) in the section heading, by inserting 10 ‘‘QUALIFICATIONS AND’’ after ‘‘ELIGIBILITY’’; 11 (2) in subsection (d)(2)(C)— 12 (A) by inserting ‘‘who is’’ after ‘‘student’’; 13 and 14 (B) by striking ‘‘(except’’ and all that fol- 15 lows through ‘‘section)’’ and inserting ‘‘and 16 meets the requirements for eligibility under sub- 17 section (e)’’; and 18 (3) in subsection (e)— 19 (A) in paragraph (3)— 20 (i) in subparagraph (B), by redesig- 21 nating clauses (i) and (ii) as subclauses (I) 22 and (II), respectively, and indenting appro- 23 priately; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1569.IS S1569 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1569 IS (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs 1 (A) through (D) as clauses (i) through 2 (iv), respectively, and indenting appro- 3 priately; 4 (B) in paragraph (5), by redesignating 5 subparagraphs (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and 6 (ii), respectively, and indenting appropriately; 7 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 8 through (8) as subparagraphs (A) through (H), 9 respectively, and indenting appropriately; 10 (D) in subparagraph (D) (as so redesig- 11 nated), by striking ‘‘20’’ and inserting ‘‘10’’; 12 (E) in subparagraph (E)(ii) (as so redesig- 13 nated), by striking ‘‘paragraph (4)’’ and insert- 14 ing ‘‘subparagraph (D)’’; 15 (F) in subparagraph (G) (as so redesig- 16 nated), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end after the 17 semicolon; 18 (G) in subparagraph (H) (as so redesig- 19 nated), by striking the period at the end and in- 20 serting a semicolon; 21 (H) in the matter preceding subparagraph 22 (A) (as so redesignated), by striking ‘‘(e) No in- 23 dividual’’ and all that follows through ‘‘indi- 24 vidual—’’ and inserting the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1569.IS S1569 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1569 IS ‘‘(e) QUALIFICATIONS FOR STUDENTS.—A student 1 enrolled in any recognized school, training program, or in- 2 stitution of higher education (as defined in section 102 3 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002)) 4 shall be eligible to participate in the supplemental nutri- 5 tion assistance program if— 6 ‘‘(1) the student satisfies the other require- 7 ments of this section; and 8 ‘‘(2) the student—’’; and 9 (I) in paragraph (2) (as so designated), by 10 adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(I) is eligible to participate in a State or 12 federally financed work study program, includ- 13 ing the program authorized under part C of 14 title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 15 (20 U.S.C. 1087–51 et seq.); 16 ‘‘(J)(i) is not an independent student (as 17 defined in section 480(d) of the Higher Edu- 18 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087vv(d))); and 19 ‘‘(ii)(I) has an expected family contribution 20 or student aid index of not more than $0, as 21 determined in accordance with part F of title 22 IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 23 U.S.C. 1087kk et seq.); or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1569.IS S1569 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1569 IS ‘‘(II) meets the financial eligibility criteria 1 for receiving a maximum Federal Pell Grant 2 under subpart 1 of part A of title IV of the 3 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 4 1070a et seq.)— 5 ‘‘(aa) regardless of whether the stu- 6 dent has completed the Free Application 7 for Federal Student Aid described in sec- 8 tion 483 of that Act (20 U.S.C. 1090); and 9 ‘‘(bb) as determined by a State using 10 the income of the student, as determined 11 under— 12 ‘‘(AA) the supplemental nutrition 13 assistance program or another Fed- 14 eral or State means-tested program; 15 or 16 ‘‘(BB) another reasonable simpli- 17 fying assumption; or 18 ‘‘(K)(i) is an independent student (as de- 19 fined in section 480(d) of the Higher Education 20 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087vv(d))); and 21 ‘‘(ii) is a member of a household otherwise 22 eligible to participate in the supplemental nutri- 23 tion assistance program.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1569.IS S1569 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1569 IS (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 1 6(d)(2)(C) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 2 U.S.C. 2015(d)(2)(C)) is amended— 3 (1) by striking ‘‘half time’’ and inserting ‘‘half- 4 time’’; and 5 (2) by inserting ‘‘(as determined by the school, 6 training program, or institution of higher education, 7 as applicable)’’ before ‘‘(except’’. 8 SEC. 102. COMMUNICATION OF INFORMATION ON STUDENT 9 ELIGIBILITY FOR NUTRITION ASSISTANCE 10 PROGRAMS. 11 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 12 (1) COLLEGE STUDENT.—The term ‘‘college 13 student’’ means a student enrolled in an institution 14 of higher education. 15 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 16 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 17 meaning given the term in section 102 of the Higher 18 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 19 (3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 20 the supplemental nutrition assistance program es- 21 tablished under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 22 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.). 23 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 24 the Secretary of Agriculture. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1569.IS S1569 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1569 IS (b) STRATEGIES REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 1 after the effective date of this title, the Secretary shall 2 submit to Congress a report that describes the strategy 3 to be used by the Secretary— 4 (1) to increase the awareness of State agencies 5 and institutions of higher education about— 6 (A) college student food insecurity; 7 (B) the eligibility of college students for 8 the program; and 9 (C) the procedures and resources available 10 to college students who are not participating in 11 the program to access benefits under the pro- 12 gram; 13 (2) to identify— 14 (A) existing or potential informational, 15 educational, policy, and psychological barriers 16 to enrolling in the program and barriers to 17 complying with program requirements; 18 (B) mitigation strategies with respect to 19 those barriers; and 20 (C) opportunities for collaboration with the 21 Department of Education and other relevant 22 Federal agencies; and 23 (3) to update the State Outreach Plan Guid- 24 ance under subsection (c). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1569.IS S1569 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1569 IS (c) UPDATED STATE OUTREACH PLAN GUIDANCE.— 1 Not later than 90 days after the Secretary submits to Con- 2 gress a report under subsection (b), the Secretary shall 3 publish an updated State Outreach Plan Guidance that— 4 (1) describes existing data on college student 5 food insecurity; 6 (2) describes the manner in which college stu- 7 dents can access the supplemental nutrition assist- 8 ance program; 9 (3) recommends outreach activities to address 10 college student food insecurity and encourages 11 States to conduct those and other outreach activi- 12 ties; 13 (4) provides a template for a State to submit 14 information to the Secretary describing the outreach 15 activities being carried out by the State to address 16 college student food insecurity; and 17 (5) contains updated guidance based on the 18 contents of that report. 19 SEC. 103. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM. 20 Section 17 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 21 (7 U.S.C. 2026) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 22 lowing: 23 ‘‘(o) COLLEGE STUDENT FOOD INSECURITY DEM- 24 ONSTRATION PROGRAM.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1569.IS S1569 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1569 IS ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 1 ‘‘(A) COLLEGE STUDENT.—The term ‘col- 2 lege student’ means a student enrolled in an in- 3 stitution of higher education. 4 ‘‘(B) DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM.—The 5 term ‘demonstration program’ means the dem- 6 onstration program established under para- 7 graph (2). 8 ‘‘(C) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDU- 9 CATION.—The term ‘institution of higher edu- 10 cation’— 11 ‘‘(i) has the meaning given the term 12 in section 101 of the Higher Education 13 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001); and 14 ‘‘(ii) includes a postsecondary voca- 15 tional institution (as defined in section 102 16 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 17 U.S.C. 1002)). 18 ‘‘(2) DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM.—Pursuant to 19 subsection (b), the Secretary, in collaboration with 20 the Secretary of Education, shall establish a dem- 21 onstration program under which the Secretary shall 22 carry out demonstration projects in accordance with 23 paragraph (3)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1569.IS S1569 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1569 IS ‘‘(A) to decrease student food insecurity at 1 institutions of higher education; and 2 ‘‘(B) to reduce barriers to college students 3 fully utilizing supplemental nutrition assistance 4 program benefits at institutions of higher edu- 5 cation. 6 ‘‘(3) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.—To carry 7 out the demonstration program, the Secretary shall 8 carry out demonstration projects that test the fol- 9 lowing new supplemental nutrition assistance pro- 10 gram delivery methods: 11 ‘‘(A) Allowing a college student receiving 12 supplemental nutrition assistance program ben- 13 efits— 14 ‘‘(i) to use those benefits to purchase 15 prepared foods from a campus dining hall, 16 on-campus store, or other on-campus mer- 17 chant or provider that typically sells pre- 18 pared meals and participates in the stu- 19 dent meal program at the institution of 20 higher education at which the student is 21 enrolled; and 22 ‘‘(ii) to be exempt from requirements 23 to purchase a campus meal plan as part of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1569.IS S1569 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1569 IS the attendance of the college student at the 1 institution of higher education. 2 ‘‘(B) Allowing a college student to use an 3 EBT card or a campus-specific card at any of 4 the locations described in subparagraph (A)(i) 5 or a retailer authorized under section 9. 6 ‘‘(4) PROJECT LIMIT.— 7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 8 carry out not more than 10 demonstration 9 projects under the demonstration program si- 10 multaneously. 11 ‘‘(B) INSTITUTIONS.—The Secretary shall 12 carry out not more than 1 demonstration 13 project under the demonstration program at 14 any single institution of higher education. 15 ‘‘(5) PRIORITY.—In selecting an institution of 16 higher education at which to carry out a demonstra- 17 tion project, the Secretary shall give priority to an 18 institution of higher education— 19 ‘‘(A) at which not less than 25 percent of 20 enrolled students are students that are eligible 21 to receive a Federal Pell Grant under subpart 22 1 of part A of title IV of the Higher Education 23 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a et seq.); or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1569.IS S1569 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1569 IS ‘‘(B) that is described in section 371(a) of 1 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 2 1067q(a)). 3 ‘‘(6) PROJECT ADMINISTRATION.— 4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 5 establish criteria and parameters for selecting, 6 operating, monitoring, and terminating each 7 demonstration project under the demonstration [Text truncated for display. 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