FILED SENATE
Apr 7, 2021
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
S.B. 676
SESSION 2021 PRINCIPAL CLERK
S D
SENATE BILL DRS45382-MKa-133
Short Title: Hunger-Free Campus Initiative/COVID-19. (Public)
Sponsors: Senators Murdock and Crawford (Primary Sponsors).
Referred to:
1 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
2 AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE HUNGER-FREE CAMPUS INITIATIVE FOR UNIVERSITY
3 OF NORTH CAROLINA CONSTITUENT INSTITUTIONS AND COMMUNITY
4 COLLEGE CAMPUSES TO RESPOND TO THE IMPACTS ON STUDENTS DURING
5 THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS FROM THE
6 CORONAVIRUS STATE FISCAL RECOVERY FUND FOR THE PROGRAM.
7 The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
8 SECTION 1. Definitions. – For the purposes of this act, the following definitions
9 apply:
10 (1) Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund. – Funds received by the State of
11 North Carolina during the 2021-2022 fiscal year from the Coronavirus State
12 Fiscal Recovery Fund created by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, P.L.
13 117-2.
14 (2) COVID-19. – Coronavirus disease 2019.
15 SECTION 2. Initiative Established. – The Board of Governors of The University of
16 North Carolina and the State Board of Community Colleges shall establish the Hunger-Free
17 Campus Initiative (Initiative) at constituent institutions of The University of North Carolina and
18 community colleges under the jurisdiction of the State Board of Community Colleges,
19 respectively, to address student hunger and food insecurity occurring during the COVID-19
20 pandemic due to closures and restrictions to access on campuses and dining halls and the
21 increasing unemployment for students and their families. Constituent institutions and community
22 colleges may use the funds made available to them pursuant to this act to effectively respond to
23 the needs of students by establishing new programs, expanding on existing programs, and
24 utilizing community resources on their campuses and in other community locations providing
25 access to students. Constituent institutions and community colleges may implement the following
26 policies and strategies to respond to COVID-19 impacts on students and their ability to access
27 meal resources during the COVID-19 pandemic:
28 (1) Designate a campus employee to help ensure that students have the
29 information necessary to locate meal options appropriate for their resources,
30 including facilitating food delivery, if necessary.
31 (2) Provide for an on-campus food pantry or regular food distributions to campus
32 or community locations. A campus may partner with a local food bank or food
33 pantry to meet this requirement.
34 (3) For constituent institutions for the 2021-2022 academic year and subsequent
35 academic years, establish a meal-sharing program that allows students to
36 voluntarily donate their unused meal plan credits to be distributed for use by
*DRS45382-MKa-133*
 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2021
1 students in need to support an on-campus food pantry. Each campus shall
2 establish the parameters of their meal-sharing program and make them
3 publicly available to students and interested parties. The program information
4 made publicly available shall include at least the following:
5 a. How a student may donate his or her unused meal plan credits.
6 b. How a low-income student can apply to receive donated meal plan
7 credits.
8 c. The methodology for determining how unused meal plan credits that
9 are not used by a student in need or how food purchased using these
10 unused meal plan credits will be donated to support the on-campus
11 food pantry, which shall be established by campus officials in
12 consultation with pantry staff and volunteers, including student
13 volunteers.
14 d. The campus employee designated pursuant to subdivision (1) of this
15 section.
16 (4) Designate a campus employee as a point-of-contact to work with student
17 volunteers for the meal-sharing program described in subdivision (3) of this
18 section to assist students.
19 SECTION 3.(a) Funds for Constituent Institutions. – The sum of one million six
20 hundred thousand dollars ($1,600,000) in nonrecurring funds is appropriated from the
21 Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund to the Board of Governors of The University of North
22 Carolina to be allocated to each constituent institution in the amount of one hundred thousand
23 dollars ($100,000) to implement the Hunger-Free Campus Initiative in accordance with this act.
24 SECTION 3.(b) Funds for Community Colleges. – The sum of five million eight
25 hundred thousand dollars ($5,800,000) is appropriated from the Coronavirus State Fiscal
26 Recovery Fund to the Community Colleges System Office to be allocated to each community
27 college campus in the amount of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) to implement the
28 Hunger-Free Campus Initiative in accordance with this act.
29 SECTION 3.(c) Use of Funds. – Of the funds appropriated from the Coronavirus
30 State Fiscal Recovery Fund by this act, funds shall only be used for necessary eligible
31 expenditures in accordance with federal law and guidance. These funds shall be available for
32 expenditure until the deadline set by applicable federal law.
33 SECTION 4. Reports. – By February 15, 2024, the Board of Governors and the State
34 Board of Community Colleges, respectively, shall report to the Senate Appropriations Committee
35 on Education/Higher Education, the House Appropriations Committee on Education, the Fiscal
36 Research Division, and the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee on the
37 implementation of the Hunger-Free Initiatives on their campuses and the use of the appropriated
38 funds made available pursuant to this act, including recommendations for the potential
39 implementation of permanent programs to address ongoing student hunger and food insecurity
40 and the need for State funds to continue or expand programs beyond the duration of the
41 COVID-19 pandemic.
42 SECTION 5. This act is effective when it becomes law.
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