Senate Bill 245 creates the Hunger-Free Campus Act and directs the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission to establish a Hunger-Free Campus Grant Program for state institutions of higher education. The program is intended to help campuses address student hunger and food insecurity by supporting more sustainable food access solutions, increasing awareness of existing campus services, and encouraging partnerships at the local, state, and national levels.
To qualify as a “hunger-free campus,” an institution must meet several conditions. These include creating a campus hunger task force, designating a staff member to help students enroll in SNAP, offering ways to use SNAP benefits at campus stores where allowed by federal rules, participating in Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, providing a food pantry or other stigma-free food access arrangement, developing a Swipe Out Hunger-style meal sharing or voucher program, and conducting an annual student hunger survey with results submitted to the Chancellor. The Chancellor would then designate qualifying campuses and, subject to available funding, allocate grants to those institutions.
Impact
The bill would add a new article to West Virginia Code Chapter 18B, creating a new state grant program and administrative framework for higher education institutions focused on student food insecurity. It gives the Higher Education Policy Commission and its Chancellor new responsibilities to set criteria, designate campuses, distribute grant funds from appropriations or other sources, and collect survey and best-practices data. It also requires a report to the Governor and Legislature within two years on grant awards, program impact, and recommendations for expansion.
Sentiment
The available record shows no committee transcript or recorded votes, so there is no documented debate or formal sentiment from legislative discussion in the materials provided. Based on the bill text alone, the measure appears policy-oriented and supportive of student basic-needs assistance, with a clear public-interest framing around hunger reduction and campus support services.
Contention
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided materials. Potential areas of concern, based on the bill’s structure, could include the availability of funding, the administrative burden on campuses to meet designation requirements, and whether institutions can implement SNAP access, meal-sharing, pantry, and survey obligations consistently. However, no legislator or stakeholder objections are included in the record provided.
Supplementing and amending appropriations to the Higher Education Policy Commission, Higher Education Policy Commission – Administration – Control Account