Senate Bill 245 aims to establish the Hunger-Free Campus Act in West Virginia, which will create a Hunger-Free Grant Program administered by the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission. The program's purpose is to provide grants to state institutions of higher education that achieve a "hunger-free campus" designation. This designation requires institutions to implement various measures, including forming a Campus Hunger Task Force, designating staff to assist students with enrollment in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and providing food resources such as pantries and meal-sharing programs. The bill outlines specific qualifications that campuses must meet to be designated as hunger-free, emphasizing the importance of addressing student hunger and food insecurity.

Additionally, the bill mandates that the Chancellor of the Higher Education Policy Commission allocate grant funding to designated hunger-free campuses, subject to available funding. It also requires the Chancellor to submit a report to the Governor and Legislature within two years of the program's establishment, detailing the impact of the grant program on food insecurity among students and offering recommendations for its expansion. The bill includes new legal language to formalize these provisions and does not delete any existing legal language.

Statutes affected:
Introduced Version: 18B-22-1, 18B-22-2, 18B-22-3, 18B-22-4