BASIC Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4968 To provide for the basic needs of students at institutions of higher education. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 31, 2019 Mrs. TORRES of California (for herself, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. VARGAS, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. CA´RDENAS, and Mr. TAKANO) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred 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 Not more than 90 days after the date of enactment 7 of this Act, the Secretary of Education, in coordination 8 with the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Hous- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:20 Nov 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4968.IH H4968 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4968 IH ing and Urban Development, and the Secretary of Health 1 and Human Services, shall develop and implement an 2 agreement to— 3 (1) securely share data among the respective 4 Federal agencies of such Secretaries in order to 5 identify students who are enrolled at institutions of 6 higher education (as defined in section 102 of the 7 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002)) 8 (including full-time and part-time students) who 9 may be eligible for benefits through— 10 (A) the supplemental nutrition assistance 11 program under the Food and Nutrition Act of 12 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.); 13 (B) the supplemental security income pro- 14 gram under title XVI of the Social Security Act 15 (42 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.); 16 (C) the program of block grants to States 17 for temporary assistance for needy families 18 under part A of title IV of the Social Security 19 Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); 20 (D) the special supplemental nutrition pro- 21 gram for women, infants, and children estab- 22 lished by section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act 23 of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:20 Nov 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4968.IH H4968 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4968 IH (E) the Medicaid program under title XIX 1 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et 2 seq.); 3 (F) Federal housing assistance programs, 4 including tenant-based assistance under section 5 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 6 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)), and public housing, as 7 defined in section 3(b)(1) of such Act (42 8 U.S.C. 1437a(b)(1)); or 9 (G) any other means-tested Federal benefit 10 program as identified by the Secretary of Edu- 11 cation in accordance with section 479(d)(2)(F) 12 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 13 U.S.C. 1087ss(d)(2)(F)); and 14 (2) coordinate efforts to provide assistance to 15 institutions of higher education to facilitate the en- 16 rollment of eligible students in the programs listed 17 in paragraph (1). 18 SEC. 3. GRANTS TO SUPPORT THE BASIC NEEDS OF STU- 19 DENTS. 20 Title VIII of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 21 U.S.C. 1161a) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 22 lowing: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:20 Nov 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4968.IH H4968 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4968 IH ‘‘PART BB—GRANTS TO SUPPORT THE BASIC 1 NEEDS OF STUDENTS 2 ‘‘SEC. 899. GRANTS TO SUPPORT THE BASIC NEEDS OF STU- 3 DENTS. 4 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 5 ‘‘(1) BASIC NEEDS.—The term ‘basic needs’ 6 means the needs of students that support their suc- 7 cess while enrolled at an eligible institution, includ- 8 ing needs such as— 9 ‘‘(A) food; 10 ‘‘(B) housing; 11 ‘‘(C) transportation; 12 ‘‘(D) child care; 13 ‘‘(E) health care; and 14 ‘‘(F) technology. 15 ‘‘(2) COMMUNITY COLLEGE.—The term ‘com- 16 munity college’ means a public institution of higher 17 education at which the highest degree that is pre- 18 dominantly awarded to students is an associate de- 19 gree, including 2-year Tribal Colleges or Univer- 20 sities, as defined in section 316, and public 2-year 21 State institutions of higher education. 22 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.—The term ‘eligi- 23 ble institution’ means an institution of higher edu- 24 cation (as defined in section 102) that participates 25 in programs under title IV. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:20 Nov 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4968.IH H4968 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4968 IH ‘‘(b) PLANNING GRANTS.— 1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 2 planning grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible 3 institutions to enable the eligible institutions to con- 4 duct research and planning to reduce incidences of 5 student food and housing insecurity and to meet 6 other basic needs of students, by carrying out the 7 activities described in paragraph (2). 8 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES.—An eligible institution receiv- 9 ing a grant under this subsection shall use grant 10 funds to carry out the following: 11 ‘‘(A) Establish a basic needs steering com- 12 mittee that will be responsible for creating and 13 approving the basic needs strategy described in 14 subparagraph (C), and that will be comprised of 15 relevant campus stakeholders, such as— 16 ‘‘(i) students who have experienced 17 challenges in meeting basic needs; 18 ‘‘(ii) student government representa- 19 tives; 20 ‘‘(iii) institutional staff representing 21 the areas of student financial aid, housing, 22 dining, student affairs, accessibility serv- 23 ices, and health services (including coun- 24 seling or psychological services); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:20 Nov 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4968.IH H4968 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4968 IH ‘‘(iv) faculty; 1 ‘‘(v) relevant administrators, including 2 local human services administrators; and 3 ‘‘(vi) community-based organizations. 4 ‘‘(B) Conduct research regarding— 5 ‘‘(i) the level of unmet basic needs at 6 the institution, disaggregated by race and 7 ethnicity, income quintile, status as a first- 8 generation college student (as defined in 9 section 402A(h)), Federal Pell Grant eligi- 10 bility status, disability status, status as a 11 student parent, sex (including sexual ori- 12 entation and gender identity), or other 13 subgroup as determined by the institution; 14 ‘‘(ii) the presence of institutional bar- 15 riers (such as award displacement) and 16 current institutional interventions to ad- 17 dress such barriers; 18 ‘‘(iii) the resources available to ad- 19 dress basic needs of students, both on cam- 20 pus and off campus; and 21 ‘‘(iv) opportunities for coordination 22 and collaboration between the institution 23 and government or community-based orga- 24 nizations, such as— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:20 Nov 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4968.IH H4968 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4968 IH ‘‘(I) the local office that admin- 1 isters benefits through the supple- 2 mental nutrition assistance program 3 (SNAP) and SNAP employment and 4 training programs under the Food 5 and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 6 2011 et seq.) or the temporary assist- 7 ance for needy families program 8 (TANF) and subsidized programs 9 that meet the work requirements 10 under part A of title IV of the Social 11 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); 12 ‘‘(II) organizations that partici- 13 pate in the Federal work-study pro- 14 gram under part C of title IV of the 15 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 16 U.S.C. 1087–51 et seq.); or 17 ‘‘(III) low-income housing assist- 18 ance organizations, including those as- 19 sisting with tenant-based assistance 20 under section 8(o) of the United 21 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 22 U.S.C. 1437f(o)), and public housing, 23 as defined in section 3(b)(1) of such 24 Act (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)(1)). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:20 Nov 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4968.IH H4968 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4968 IH ‘‘(C) Create a basic needs strategy that de- 1 scribes how the institution will— 2 ‘‘(i) seek to address or meet the basic 3 needs of students through on-campus and 4 off-campus providers; and 5 ‘‘(ii) incorporate the research con- 6 ducted under subparagraph (B), including 7 with respect to the subgroups identified 8 under clause (i) of subparagraph (B), into 9 the basic needs strategy. 10 ‘‘(3) GRANT AMOUNTS; DURATION.— 11 ‘‘(A) AMOUNT.—A grant under this sub- 12 section shall be in an amount not to exceed 13 $50,000. 14 ‘‘(B) DURATION.—A grant under this sub- 15 section shall be for a period of 1 year. 16 ‘‘(4) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after 17 the end of the planning grant period under this sub- 18 section, each eligible institution that receives such a 19 grant shall submit a report to the Secretary describ- 20 ing the outcomes of the planning grant, regardless 21 of whether the eligible institution intends to apply 22 for an implementation grant. 23 ‘‘(c) IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.— 24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:20 Nov 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4968.IH H4968 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4968 IH ‘‘(A) AUTHORIZATION OF AWARD.—The 1 Secretary shall award implementation grants, 2 on a competitive basis, to eligible institutions to 3 enable the eligible institutions to develop infra- 4 structure to meet the basic needs of students, 5 by implementing a basic needs strategy devel- 6 oped through a grant award under subsection 7 (b) or another existing basic needs plan ap- 8 proved by the Secretary, and carrying out the 9 activities described in paragraph (2). 10 ‘‘(B) ONGOING EXTERNAL FUNDING.—In 11 order to be eligible to receive an implementation 12 grant under this subsection, an eligible institu- 13 tion shall identify, in the application for such 14 grant, an ongoing non-Federal funding mecha- 15 nism to support the activities carried out with 16 grant funds after the grant period has expired. 17 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES.—An eligible institution receiv- 18 ing a grant under this subsection shall use the grant 19 funds to carry out at least two of the following: 20 ‘‘(A) Providing free or subsidized food, se- 21 cure sleeping arrangements, temporary housing, 22 priority access to existing on-campus child care, 23 and other basic needs to eligible students. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:20 Nov 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4968.IH H4968 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4968 IH ‘‘(B) Conducting outreach to students to 1 encourage students to participate in programs 2 and receive services (including programs and 3 services provided through grant funding) to 4 meet basic needs. 5 ‘‘(C) Educating students about public as- 6 sistance programs (including State and local 7 public assistance programs, and the supple- 8 mental nutrition assistance program under the 9 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 10 2011 et seq.), Federal housing assistance pro- 11 grams, and other income-based Federal assist- 12 ance programs), supporting students’ applica- 13 tions for those programs, and providing case 14 management and training for students to maxi- 15 mize the public assistance that students receive 16 to meet basic needs. 17 ‘‘(D) Coordination and collaboration be- 18 tween the eligible institution and government or 19 community-based organizations, such as the 20 local office that administers benefits through 21 the supplemental nutrition assistance program 22 under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 23 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) or a low-income housing 24 assistance organization. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:20 Nov 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4968.IH H4968 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 4968 IH ‘‘(E) Purchasing materials, equipment, 1 transportation, or facilities to reduce incidences 2 of food and housing insecurity and address the 3 basic needs of students at the eligible institu- 4 tion. 5 ‘‘(F) Hiring personnel to build basic needs 6 infrastructure and implement programming to 7 meet the basic needs of students at the eligible 8 institution. 9 ‘‘(G) Other matters determined appro- 10 priate by the Secretary. 11 ‘‘(3) GRANT AMOUNTS; DURATION.— 12 ‘‘(A) AMOUNT.—A grant under this sub- 13 section shall be in an amount not to exceed 14 $500,000 total for each 5-year period. 15 ‘‘(B) DURATION.—A grant under this sub- 16 section shall be for a period of 5 years. 17 ‘‘(4) REPORT.—The Secretary shall prepare 18 and submit to Congress a report that describes— 19 ‘‘(A) the impact of the grant under this 20 subsection on eligible students; 21 ‘‘(B) best practices for the provision of 22 basic services to eligible students; 23 ‘‘(C) the obstacles faced by grant recipi- 24 ents; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:20 Nov 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4968.IH H4968 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 4968 IH ‘‘(D) State or Federal policy barriers to 1 meeting the basic needs of students at institu- 2 tions of higher education. 3 ‘‘(5) BEST PRACTICES.—The Secretary shall 4 disseminate to eligible institutions information about 5 best practices, as described in paragraph (4)(B). 6 ‘‘(d) RESERVATION; PRIORITY; EQUITABLE DIS- 7 TRIBUTION.— 8 ‘‘(1) RESERVATION.—In awarding grants under 9 subsections (b) and (c), the Secretary shall reserve 10 an amount equal to not less than 25 percent of the 11 total amount available for grants under those sub- 12 sections for grant awards to community colleges. 13 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under 14 subsections (b) and (c), the Secretary shall give pri- 15 ority to the following: 16 ‘‘(A) Eligible institutions with respect to 17 which not less than 25 percent of enrolled stu- 18 dents are students that are eligible to receive a 19 Federal Pell Grant under subpart 1 of part A 20 of title IV. 21 ‘‘(B) Eligible institutions that are histori- 22 cally Black colleges and universities. 23 ‘‘(C) Eligible institutions that are de- 24 scribed in section 371(a). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:20 Nov 09, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4968.IH H4968 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 4968 IH ‘‘(3) EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.—In awarding 1 grants under subsections (b) and (c), the Secretary 2 shall ensure an equitable distribution of grant 3 awards to eligible institutions in States based on 4 State populatio [Text truncated for display. 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