II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2143 

To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to expand the eligibility 

of students to participate in the supplemental nutrition assistance program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 17, 2019 

Ms. WARREN (for herself, Mr. MARKEY, and Ms. HARRIS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 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 supplemental nutrition assistance program, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘College Student Hun5 ger Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY OF STUDENTS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE 

2 SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE 

3 PROGRAM. 

4 (a) DEFINITION OF HOUSEHOLD.—Section 3(m) of 

5 the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012(m)) 

6 is amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘, except 

8 with respect to the individuals described in para9 graph (5)(F),’’ before ‘‘constitute’’; and 

10 (2) in paragraph (5), by adding at the end the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(F) Students that are enrolled in and are 

13 residents of an institution of higher education 

14 (as defined in section 102 of the Higher Edu15 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002)) and are 

16 eligible to participate in the supplemental nutri17 tion assistance program under paragraphs (1) 

18 through (11) of section 6(e).’’. 

19 (b) ELIGIBILITY OF STUDENTS.—Section 6(e) of the 

20 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2015(e)) is 

21 amended— 

22 (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘20’’ and in23 serting ‘‘10’’; 

24 (2) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

25 end; 


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1 (3) in paragraph (8), by striking the period at 

2 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

3 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(9) is eligible for a Federal Pell Grant under 

5 section 401 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

6 (20 U.S.C. 1070a); 

7 ‘‘(10) has an expected family contribution equal 

8 to zero, as determined by the procedures established 

9 in part F of title IV of the Higher Education Act 

10 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087kk et seq.); or 

11 ‘‘(11) is independent (as the term is defined 

12 under subparagraph (B), (C), (D), (G), or (H) of 

13 section 480(d)(1) of the Higher Education Act (20 

14 U.S.C. 1087vv(d)(1))).’’. 

15 SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY NOTIFICATION FOR STUDENTS. 

16 Not later than 1 year after the effective date under 

17 section 7, the Secretary of Education, in consultation with 

18 the Secretary of Agriculture, shall— 

19 (1) notify each student who completes the Free 

20 Application for Federal Student Aid and is eligible 

21 for a Federal Pell Grant under section 401 of the 

22 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a) or 

23 has an expected family contribution equal to zero, as 

24 determined by the procedures established in part F 

25 of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 


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1 U.S.C. 1087kk et seq.), that the student may be eli2 gible for the supplemental nutrition assistance pro3 gram established under the Food and Nutrition Act 

4 of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.); and 

5 (2) direct each student notified under para6 graph (1) to the appropriate State resource to apply 

7 for benefits under that program. 

8 SEC. 4. COMMUNICATION OF INFORMATION ON STUDENT 

9 ELIGIBILITY FOR THE SUPPLEMENTAL NU10 TRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

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) INSPECTOR GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Inspec16 tor General’’ means the Inspector General of the De17 partment of Agriculture. 

18 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

19 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

20 meaning given the term in section 102 of the Higher 

21 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 

22 (4) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

23 the supplemental nutrition assistance program es24 tablished under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 

25 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.). 


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1 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

3 (b) AUDIT.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

5 the effective date under section 7, the Inspector 

6 General shall conduct an audit of the operations of 

7 the Food and Nutrition Service to examine the pro8 cedures and outreach practices used by the Food 

9 and Nutrition Service to provide to State agencies 

10 information about the eligibility of students at insti11 tutions of higher education for participation in the 

12 program. 

13 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 90 

14 days after completing the audit under paragraph 

15 (1), the Inspector General shall submit to Congress 

16 a report describing the results of the audit. 

17 (c) STRATEGIES REPORT.—Not later than 90 days 

18 after the Inspector General submits to Congress a report 

19 under subsection (b)(2), the Secretary shall submit to 

20 Congress a report that describes the strategy to be used 

21 by the Food and Nutrition Service— 

22 (1) to increase the awareness of State agencies 

23 and institutions of higher education about— 

24 (A) college student hunger; 


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1 (B) the eligibility of college students for 

2 the program; and 

3 (C) the procedures and resources available 

4 to college students who are participating in the 

5 program to access benefits under the program; 

6 (2) to identify existing or potential barriers and 

7 mitigation strategies with respect to those barriers; 

8 and 

9 (3) to update the strategic communications plan 

10 under subsection (d). 

11 (d) UPDATED STATE OUTREACH PLAN GUIDANCE.— 

12 Not later than 90 days after the Inspector General sub13 mits to Congress a report under subsection (b)(2), the 

14 Secretary shall publish an updated State Outreach Plan 

15 Guidance that— 

16 (1) describes existing data on college student 

17 hunger; 

18 (2) describes the manner in which college stu19 dents can access the supplemental nutrition assist20 ance program; 

21 (3) recommends outreach activities to address 

22 college student hunger and encourages States to 

23 conduct those and other outreach activities; 

24 (4) provides a template for a State to submit 

25 information to the Secretary describing the outreach 


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1 activities being carried out by the State to address 

2 college student hunger; and 

3 (5) contains updated guidance based on the re4 sults of the audit conducted under subsection (b)(1) 

5 and the contents of the report submitted under sub6 section (c). 

7 SEC. 5. DEMONSTRATION PILOT PROGRAM. 

8 The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 

9 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 31. COLLEGE STUDENT HUNGER PILOT PROGRAM. 

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.— 

16 The 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) PILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘pilot pro20 gram’ means the pilot program established under 

21 subsection (b). 

22 ‘‘(b) PILOT PROGRAM.—The Secretary, in collabora23 tion with the Secretary of Education, shall establish a pilot 

24 program under which the Secretary shall carry out dem25 onstration projects in accordance with subsection (c)— 


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1 ‘‘(1) to decrease student hunger at institutions 

2 of higher education; and 

3 ‘‘(2) to reduce barriers to college students fully 

4 utilizing supplemental nutrition assistance program 

5 benefits at institutions of higher education. 

6 ‘‘(c) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.—To carry out the 

7 pilot program, the Secretary shall carry out demonstration 

8 projects that test the following new supplemental nutrition 

9 assistance program delivery methods: 

10 ‘‘(1) Allowing a college student receiving sup11 plemental nutrition assistance program benefits to 

12 use those benefits or the cash value of those bene13 fits— 

14 ‘‘(A) to purchase prepared foods from a 

15 campus dining hall, on-campus store, or other 

16 on-campus merchant or provider that typically 

17 sells prepared meals and is affiliated with the 

18 institution of higher education at which the stu19 dent is enrolled; and 

20 ‘‘(B) to pay the institution of higher edu21 cation the cost of an on-campus college meal 

22 plan, in whole or in part. 

23 ‘‘(2) Allowing a college student to use an EBT 

24 card or a campus-specific card at any of the loca25 tions described in paragraph (1)(A). 


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1 ‘‘(d) PROJECT LIMIT.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 

3 out not more than 10 demonstration projects under 

4 the pilot program simultaneously. 

5 ‘‘(2) INSTITUTIONS.—The Secretary shall carry 

6 out not more than 1 demonstration project under 

7 the pilot program at any single institution of higher 

8 education. 

9 ‘‘(e) PROJECT ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary 

10 shall establish criteria and parameters for selecting, oper11 ating, monitoring, and terminating each demonstration 

12 project under the pilot program. 

13 ‘‘(f) PROJECT TERMINATION.—To the maximum ex14 tent practicable, the Secretary shall ensure that the termi15 nation of a demonstration project under the pilot program 

16 shall not cause sudden adverse changes or the elimination 

17 of benefits under the supplemental nutrition assistance 

18 program for students participating in the demonstration 

19 project. 

20 ‘‘(g) PROGRAM TERMINATION.—The pilot program 

21 shall terminate on the date that is 10 years after the date 

22 on which the pilot program is established. 

23 ‘‘(h) EVALUATION.—For the duration of the pilot 

24 program, the Secretary shall, in collaboration with the 

25 Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics 


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1 and the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences, 

2 conduct an annual evaluation of each demonstration 

3 project carried out under the pilot program during the 

4 year covered by the evaluation, including an analysis of 

5 the extent to which the project is meeting the desired out6 comes. 

7 ‘‘(i) REPORT.—For the duration of the pilot program, 

8 the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Agri9 culture, Nutrition, and Forestry and Health, Education, 

10 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committees 

11 on Agriculture and Education and Labor of the House of 

12 Representatives an annual report that includes— 

13 ‘‘(1) a description of each demonstration project 

14 carried out under the pilot program during the year 

15 covered by the report; 

16 ‘‘(2) the evaluation conducted under subsection 

17 (h); and 

18 ‘‘(3) recommendations for legislation to improve 

19 the supplemental nutrition assistance program to 

20 better serve college students. 

21 ‘‘(j) WAIVER AND MODIFICATION AUTHORITY.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

23 the Secretary may, as may be necessary solely to 

24 carry out the pilot program— 


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1 ‘‘(A) waive any provision under this Act, 

2 including— 

3 ‘‘(i) the requirement relating to local 

4 sales tax under section 4(a); 

5 ‘‘(ii) requirements relating to the 

6 issuance and use of supplemental nutrition 

7 assistance program benefits under section 

8 7; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) requirements for approval of re10 tail food stores under section 9; and 

11 ‘‘(B) modify the definitions under this Act 

12 for the purposes of the pilot program, including 

13 the definition of— 

14 ‘‘(i) the term ‘food’ under section 

15 3(k); 

16 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘household’ under sec17 tion 3(m); and 

18 ‘‘(iii) the term ‘retail food store’ under 

19 section 3(o). 

20 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may not 

21 waive a provision or modify a definition under para22 graph (1) if the waiver or modification will— 

23 ‘‘(A) cause increased difficulty for any 

24 household to apply for or access supplemental 

25 nutrition assistance program benefits; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) reduce the value of those benefits for 

2 any household. 

3 ‘‘(k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such 

5 sums as are necessary to carry out this section.’’. 

6 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

7 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

8 take effect on the first day of the fiscal year that begins 

9 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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