Political Quotes

“I rise to speak in support of the Opportunity to Address College Hunger Act, which I introduced today. According to a 2018 GAO study, roughly 2 million at-risk college students who were potentially eligible for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, benefits did not report receiving them. Millions of eligible college students across the Nation face steep barriers to accessing these critical benefits due to a complex application process and a lack of information-sharing from their own colleges and universities. In California alone, 127,000 college students received CalFresh before the pandemic, despite upwards of 690,000 students being potentially eligible. Through my conversations with California college students, many have said that they wished their campuses told them they were eligible for SNAP and how to access benefits. That is why I am introducing this bill--to increase awareness of SNAP for potentially eligible college students and to continue the fight to tackle student hunger. If enacted, this bill would require colleges and universities to notify students participating in State or federally financed work-study programs of their potential eligibility for SNAP benefits. Institutions would also need to provide students with details about how they can obtain more information about SNAP, confirm their eligibility for the program, and access benefits. This notification would be developed by the U.S.…”