Andrew Powell
The House Housing, Agriculture and Tourism Subcommittee has unanimously advanced a measure that seeks to address the growing concern of student food insecurity on college campuses.
Homestead Democratic Rep. Kevin Chambliss presented the bill (HB 1245) and explained that one-third of college students face food insecurity on a daily basis.
“The Hunger-Free Campus Pilot Program is a program that’s about the poor college student, the struggling college student who is trying hard to make ends meet as they try to improve their lives through college,” Chambliss said.
Chambliss explained that the bill would establish the Hunger-Free Campus Pilot Program within the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and it would serve to combat food insecurity at public post-secondary institutions.
The Agriculture Commissioner would select three state universities of the Florida College System and determine which schools to use based on the schools with the highest percentage of Pell Grant recipients.
“These institutions will establish a hunger taskforce, assist students with SNAP enrollment, provide on-campus food assistance, and develop meal credit donation programs,” Chambliss said. “The bill also directs the Office of the Program Policy Analysis of Government Accountability (OPPAGA) to study food insecurity in all public post-secondary institutions and recommend policy changes to improve student food access.”
West Palm Beach Democratic Sen. Bernard Mack is carrying the companion bill (SB 980) through the Senate.
Tallahassee Democratic Rep. Gallop Franklin thanked Chambliss for the legislation and noted that food insecurity can affect a student’s ability to graduate.
“We all know inflation’s challenging,” Franklin said. “So, obviously having to figure out how to eat, where to stay, impacts their ability to graduate. So, I think this pilot program will do really well to bring back some data and help folks be able to have full bellies when trying to attain higher education.”
The bill will make its next stop at the House Higher Education Budget Subcommittee.
