I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3857 To provide for the basic needs of students at institutions of higher education. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 11, 2021 Mrs. TORRES of California introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To provide for the basic needs of students at institutions of higher education. 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Basic Assistance for 4 Students In College Act’’ or the ‘‘BASIC Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DATA SHARING. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 7 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education, 8 in coordination with the Secretary of Agriculture, the Sec- 9 retary of Housing and Urban Development, and the Sec- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3857.IH H3857 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3857 IH retary of Health and Human Services, shall develop and 1 implement an agreement to— 2 (1) securely share data among the respective 3 Federal agencies of such Secretaries in order to, not- 4 withstanding section 483(a)(3)(E) of the Higher 5 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1090(a)(3)(E)) 6 and section 444 of the General Education Provisions 7 Act (commonly known as the ‘‘Family Educational 8 Rights and Privacy Act of 1974’’), identify students 9 described in subsection (b) who may be eligible for 10 Federally funded programs to support basic needs 11 through— 12 (A) the supplemental nutrition assistance 13 program established under the Food and Nutri- 14 tion Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.), a nu- 15 trition assistance program carried out under 16 section 19 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 2028), or a 17 nutrition assistance program carried out by the 18 Secretary of Agriculture in the Northern Mar- 19 iana Islands; 20 (B) the supplemental security income pro- 21 gram under title XVI of the Social Security Act 22 (42 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.); 23 (C) the program of block grants to States 24 for temporary assistance for needy families 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3857.IH H3857 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3857 IH under part A of title IV of the Social Security 1 Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); 2 (D) the special supplemental nutrition pro- 3 gram for women, infants, and children estab- 4 lished by section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act 5 of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786); 6 (E) the Medicaid program under title XIX 7 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et 8 seq.); 9 (F) Federal housing assistance programs, 10 including tenant-based assistance under section 11 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 12 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)), and public housing, as 13 defined in section 3(b)(1) of such Act (42 14 U.S.C. 1437a(b)(1)); 15 (G) Federal child care assistance pro- 16 grams, including assistance under the Child 17 Care and Development Block Grant Act of 18 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.) and the Child 19 Care Access Means Parents in School Program 20 under section 419N of the Higher Education 21 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070e); 22 (H) the free and reduced price school 23 lunch program established under the Richard 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3857.IH H3857 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3857 IH B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 1 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.); 2 (I) the refundable credit for coverage 3 under a qualified health plan under section 36B 4 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 5 (J) the Earned Income Tax Credit under 6 section 32 of the Internal Revenue Code of 7 1986; 8 (K) the Child Tax Credit under section 24 9 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; or 10 (L) any other Federally funded program 11 determined by the Secretary to be appropriate; 12 and 13 (2) coordinate efforts to provide assistance to 14 institutions of higher education to facilitate the en- 15 rollment of eligible students in the programs listed 16 in paragraph (1). 17 (b) COVERED STUDENTS.—Students described in 18 this subsection are students who— 19 (1) have applied for Federal financial aid; 20 (2) are enrolled at institutions of higher edu- 21 cation (as defined in section 102 of the Higher Edu- 22 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002)), including full- 23 time and part-time students; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3857.IH H3857 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3857 IH (3) have not opted out of the information shar- 1 ing under this section through the process described 2 in subsection (c) or any other process established by 3 the Secretary of Education. 4 (c) INCLUSION ON FAFSA.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Students and borrowers, 6 through the Free Application for Federal Student 7 Aid under section 483 of the Higher Education Act 8 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1090), may authorize the Sec- 9 retary of Education to disclose to the Federal agen- 10 cies described in subsection (a)(1) information pro- 11 vided by the applicant on the application described 12 by this subsection, as well as such applicant’s stu- 13 dent aid index and scheduled Federal Pell Grant 14 award, to assist in identification, outreach and appli- 15 cation efforts for the application, award, and admin- 16 istration of such means-tested Federal benefits pro- 17 grams, except such information shall not include 18 Federal tax information as specified in section 19 6103(l)(13)(C) of the Internal Revenue Code of 20 1986. 21 (2) OPT-OUT.—The Secretary shall provide an 22 opportunity for students and borrowers to opt out of 23 the authorization described in paragraph (1). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3857.IH H3857 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3857 IH SEC. 3. GRANTS TO SUPPORT THE BASIC NEEDS OF STU- 1 DENTS. 2 Title VIII of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 3 U.S.C. 1161a) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘PART BB—GRANTS TO SUPPORT THE BASIC 6 NEEDS OF STUDENTS 7 ‘‘SEC. 899. GRANTS TO SUPPORT THE BASIC NEEDS OF STU- 8 DENTS. 9 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 10 ‘‘(1) BASIC NEEDS.—The term ‘basic needs’ 11 means the needs of students that support their suc- 12 cess while enrolled at an eligible institution, includ- 13 ing needs such as— 14 ‘‘(A) food; 15 ‘‘(B) housing; 16 ‘‘(C) transportation; 17 ‘‘(D) child care; 18 ‘‘(E) health care; and 19 ‘‘(F) technology. 20 ‘‘(2) COMMUNITY COLLEGE.—The term ‘com- 21 munity college’ means a public institution of higher 22 education at which the highest degree that is pre- 23 dominantly awarded to students is an associate de- 24 gree, including a 2-year Tribal Colleges or Univer- 25 sity, as defined in section 316. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3857.IH H3857 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3857 IH ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.—The term ‘eligi- 1 ble institution’ means an institution of higher edu- 2 cation (as defined in section 102) that participates 3 in programs under title IV. 4 ‘‘(b) PLANNING GRANTS.— 5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 6 planning grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible 7 institutions to enable the eligible institutions to con- 8 duct research and planning to reduce incidences of 9 student food insecurity, housing insecurity, and 10 homelessness and to meet other basic needs of stu- 11 dents, by carrying out the activities described in 12 paragraph (2). 13 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES.—An eligible institution receiv- 14 ing a grant under this subsection shall use grant 15 funds to carry out the following: 16 ‘‘(A) Establish a basic needs steering com- 17 mittee that will be responsible for creating and 18 approving the basic needs strategy described in 19 subparagraph (C), and that will be comprised of 20 relevant campus stakeholders, such as— 21 ‘‘(i) students who have experienced 22 challenges in meeting basic needs; 23 ‘‘(ii) student government representa- 24 tives; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3857.IH H3857 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3857 IH ‘‘(iii) institutional staff representing 1 the areas of student financial aid, housing, 2 dining, student affairs, academic advising, 3 equity support services, accessibility serv- 4 ices, and well-being services (including 5 counseling or psychological services); 6 ‘‘(iv) faculty; 7 ‘‘(v) relevant administrators, including 8 local human services administrators; 9 ‘‘(vi) community-based organizations; 10 and 11 ‘‘(vii) representatives from local gov- 12 ernmental agencies. 13 ‘‘(B) Conduct research regarding— 14 ‘‘(i) the level of unmet basic needs at 15 the institution, disaggregated by race and 16 ethnicity, income quintile, status as a first- 17 generation college student (as defined in 18 section 402A(h)), Federal Pell Grant eligi- 19 bility status, disability status, status as a 20 student parent, sex (including sexual ori- 21 entation and gender identity), or other 22 subgroup as determined by the institution; 23 ‘‘(ii) the presence of institutional bar- 24 riers (such as award displacement) and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3857.IH H3857 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3857 IH current institutional interventions to ad- 1 dress basic needs insecurity; 2 ‘‘(iii)(I) the resources and activities 3 available to address basic needs of stu- 4 dents, both on campus and off campus, as 5 of the date of the research; and 6 ‘‘(II) the impact of such resources and 7 activities; and 8 ‘‘(iv) opportunities for coordination 9 and collaboration between the institution 10 and government or community-based orga- 11 nizations, such as— 12 ‘‘(I) the local office that admin- 13 isters benefits under the supplemental 14 nutrition assistance program estab- 15 lished under the Food and Nutrition 16 Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) 17 and carries out employment and train- 18 ing programs under that Act or the 19 temporary assistance for needy fami- 20 lies program (TANF) and subsidized 21 programs that meet the work require- 22 ments under part A of title IV of the 23 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et 24 seq.); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3857.IH H3857 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3857 IH ‘‘(II) organizations that partici- 1 pate in the Federal work-study pro- 2 gram under part C of title IV; or 3 ‘‘(III) low-income housing assist- 4 ance organizations, including those as- 5 sisting with tenant-based assistance 6 under section 8(o) of the United 7 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 8 U.S.C. 1437f(o)), and public housing, 9 as defined in section 3(b)(1) of such 10 Act (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)(1)). 11 ‘‘(C) Create a basic needs strategy that de- 12 scribes how the institution will— 13 ‘‘(i) seek to address or meet the basic 14 needs of students through on-campus and 15 off-campus providers; and 16 ‘‘(ii) incorporate the research con- 17 ducted under subparagraph (B), including 18 with respect to the subgroups identified 19 under clause (i) of subparagraph (B), into 20 the basic needs strategy. 21 ‘‘(3) GRANT AMOUNTS; DURATION.— 22 ‘‘(A) AMOUNT.—A grant under this sub- 23 section shall be in an amount not to exceed 24 $50,000. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3857.IH H3857 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3857 IH ‘‘(B) DURATION.—A grant under this sub- 1 section shall be for a period of not more than 2 2 years. 3 ‘‘(4) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after 4 the end of the planning grant period under this sub- 5 section, each eligible institution that receives such a 6 grant shall submit a report to the Secretary describ- 7 ing the outcomes of the planning grant, regardless 8 of whether the eligible institution intends to apply 9 for an implementation grant. 10 ‘‘(c) IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 12 ‘‘(A) AUTHORIZATION OF AWARD.—The 13 Secretary shall award implementation grants, 14 on a competitive basis, to eligible institutions to 15 enable the eligible institutions to develop infra- 16 structure to meet the basic needs of students, 17 by implementing a basic needs strategy devel- 18 oped through a grant award under subsection 19 (b) or another existing basic needs plan ap- 20 proved by the Secretary, and carrying out the 21 activities described in paragraph (2). 22 ‘‘(B) ONGOING EXTERNAL FUNDING.—In 23 order to be eligible to receive an implementation 24 grant under this subsection, an eligible institu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3857.IH H3857 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3857 IH tion shall identify, in the application for such 1 grant, an ongoing non-Federal funding mecha- 2 nism to support the activities carried out with 3 grant funds after the grant period has expired. 4 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES.—An eligible institution receiv- 5 ing a grant under this subsection shall use the grant 6 funds to carry out at least two of the following: 7 ‘‘(A) Providing free or subsidized food, se- 8 cure sleeping arrangements, temporary housing, 9 priority access to existing on-campus child care, 10 and other basic needs to eligible students. 11 ‘‘(B) Conducting outreach to students to 12 reduce stigma, educate, and encourage students 13 to participate in programs and receive services 14 (including programs and services provided 15 through grant funding) to meet basic needs. 16 ‘‘(C) Educating students about public as- 17 sistance programs (including State and local 18 public assistance programs, and the supple- 19 mental nutrition assistance program under the 20 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 21 2011 et seq.), Federal housing assistance pro- 22 grams, and other income-based Federal assist- 23 ance programs), supporting students’ applica- 24 tions for those programs, and providing case 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3857.IH H3857 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 3857 IH management and training for students to maxi- 1 mize the public assistance that students receive 2 to meet basic needs. 3 ‘‘(D) Coordination and collaboration be- 4 tween the eligible institution and government or 5 community-based organizations, such as the 6 local office that admi [Text truncated for display. 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