| 14 | | - | Section 1. (Effective July 1, 2019) (a) As used in this section: |
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| 15 | | - | (1) "Food insecurity" means the lack of available financial resources |
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| 16 | | - | needed to consistently access enough food for an active and healthy |
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| 17 | | - | life; and |
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| 18 | | - | (2) "Food pantry" means a site at which an organization distributes |
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| 19 | | - | food, at no charge, directly to persons in need. |
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| 20 | | - | (b) The Board of Trustees of The University of Connecticut and the |
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| 21 | | - | Board of Regents for Higher Education shall each study the policies |
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| 22 | | - | impacting and data regarding students experiencing food insecurity at |
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| 23 | | - | the public institutions of higher education under each board's |
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| 24 | | - | jurisdiction. For the purposes of the study, each said board shall |
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| 25 | | - | document (1) during the month of October 2019, and, at the board's |
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| 26 | | - | discretion, any additional month, (A) the number of students who |
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| 27 | | - | reported experiencing food insecurity or attempted to access benefits |
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| 28 | | - | offered by an institution under the board's jurisdiction to students |
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| 29 | | - | experiencing food insecurity, and (B) if an institution under the board's |
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| 30 | | - | jurisdiction operates a food pantry or allows the operation of a food Substitute House Bill No. 7257 |
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| 19 | + | Section 1. (Effective July 1, 2019) (a) As used in this section: 1 |
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| 20 | + | (1) "Food insecurity" means the lack of available financial resources 2 |
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| 21 | + | needed to consistently access enough food for an active and healthy 3 |
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| 22 | + | life; and 4 |
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| 23 | + | (2) "Food pantry" means a site at which an organization distributes 5 |
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| 24 | + | food, at no charge, directly to persons in need. 6 |
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| 25 | + | (b) The Board of Trustees of The University of Connecticut and the 7 |
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| 26 | + | Board of Regents for Higher Education shall each study the policies 8 |
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| 27 | + | impacting and data regarding students experiencing food insecurity at 9 |
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| 28 | + | the public institutions of higher education under each board's 10 |
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| 29 | + | jurisdiction. For the purposes of the study, each said board shall 11 |
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| 30 | + | document (1) during the month of October 2019, and, at the board's 12 |
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| 31 | + | discretion, any additional month in 2019, (A) the number of students 13 |
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| 32 | + | who reported experiencing food insecurity or attempted to access 14 |
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| 33 | + | benefits offered by an institution under the board's jurisdiction to 15 |
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| 34 | + | students experiencing food insecurity, and (B) if an institution under 16 |
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| 35 | + | the board's jurisdiction operates a food pantry, the number of students 17 |
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| 36 | + | served by the food pantry and the number of pounds of food the 18 Substitute Bill No. 7257 |
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| 34 | | - | pantry on campus, the number of students served and the number of |
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| 35 | | - | pounds of food distributed by the food pantry, and (2) during the |
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| 36 | | - | fiscal year ending June 30, 2019, if an institution or a duly established |
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| 37 | | - | foundation of an institution under the board's jurisdiction offers |
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| 38 | | - | emergency grants to students experiencing financial hardship, (A) the |
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| 39 | | - | number of students who applied for such grants and total dollar |
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| 40 | | - | amount for which such students applied, and (B) the number of |
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| 41 | | - | students who received grants and the total dollar amount of grants |
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| 42 | | - | distributed. |
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| 43 | | - | (c) Not later than February 1, 2020, each said board shall submit a |
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| 44 | | - | report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general |
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| 45 | | - | statutes, to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly |
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| 46 | | - | having cognizance of matters relating to higher education regarding |
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| 47 | | - | the findings of the study and, for every institution under the board's |
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| 48 | | - | jurisdiction, such report shall include a description of (1) policies that |
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| 49 | | - | impact a student's access to food, including, but not limited to, policies |
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| 50 | | - | regarding the suspension of meal plans as a result of unpaid tuition or |
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| 51 | | - | the operating hours of on-campus dining facilities during holiday or |
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| 52 | | - | vacation periods, and (2) programs that provide benefits to students |
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| 53 | | - | experiencing food insecurity, detailing how such programs or benefits |
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| 54 | | - | operate, including, but not limited to, a description of how students |
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| 55 | | - | access benefits, how the benefits are distributed or awarded, how the |
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| 56 | | - | programs are funded and whether the benefits offered are reasonably |
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| 57 | | - | sufficient to meet the needs of all students at the institution who report |
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| 58 | | - | experiencing food insecurity. |
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| 39 | + | LCO {\\PRDFS1\HCOUSERS\BARRYJN\WS\2019HB-07257- |
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| 40 | + | R01-HB.docx } |
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| 41 | + | 2 of 2 |
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| 42 | + | |
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| 43 | + | institution distributed, and (2) during the fiscal year ending June 30, 19 |
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| 44 | + | 2019, if an institution under the board's jurisdiction offers emergency 20 |
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| 45 | + | grants to students experiencing financial hardship, (A) the number of 21 |
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| 46 | + | students who applied for such grants and total dollar amount for 22 |
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| 47 | + | which such students applied, and (B) the number of students who 23 |
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| 48 | + | received grants and the total dollar amount of grants distributed. 24 |
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| 49 | + | (c) Not later than January 1, 2020, each said board shall submit a 25 |
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| 50 | + | report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general 26 |
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| 51 | + | statutes, to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly 27 |
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| 52 | + | having cognizance of matters relating to higher education regarding 28 |
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| 53 | + | the findings of the study and, for every institution under the board's 29 |
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| 54 | + | jurisdiction, such report shall include a description of (1) policies that 30 |
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| 55 | + | impact a student's access to food, including, but not limited to, policies 31 |
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| 56 | + | regarding the suspension of meal plans as a result of unpaid tuition or 32 |
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| 57 | + | the operating hours of on-campus dining facilities during holiday or 33 |
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| 58 | + | vacation periods, and (2) programs that provide benefits to students 34 |
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| 59 | + | experiencing food insecurity, detailing how such programs or benefits 35 |
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| 60 | + | operate, including, but not limited to, a description of how students 36 |
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| 61 | + | access benefits, how the benefits are distributed or awarded, how the 37 |
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| 62 | + | programs are funded and whether the benefits offered are sufficient to 38 |
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| 63 | + | meet the needs of all students at the institution experiencing food 39 |
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| 64 | + | insecurity. 40 |
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| 65 | + | This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following |
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| 66 | + | sections: |
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| 67 | + | |
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| 68 | + | Section 1 July 1, 2019 New section |
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| 69 | + | |
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| 70 | + | Statement of Legislative Commissioners: |
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| 71 | + | In Section 1(b), "and at the board's discretion, any additional month in |
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| 72 | + | 2019," was added for clarity and in Section 1(c), the last sentence was |
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| 73 | + | deleted for clarity. |
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| 74 | + | |
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| 75 | + | HED Joint Favorable Subst. |
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