California-2023-AB2033-Chaptered

Assembly Bill No. 2033

CHAPTER 913

An act to amend Section 66023.5 of, and to add Sections 66023.4 and 66027.2 to, the Education Code, relating to public postsecondary education.

[ Approved by Governor September 28, 2024. Filed with Secretary of State September 28, 2024. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2033, Reyes. Public postsecondary education: electronic benefits transfer cards: basic needs services and resources.

(1) Existing law provides for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), administered in California as CalFresh, under which each county distributes nutrition assistance benefits provided by the federal government to eligible households for the purchase of certain eligible foods at approved retail food stores. Existing law provides for the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, under which each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families. Existing law, administered by the State Department of Social Services, provides for the establishment of a statewide electronic benefits transfer (EBT) system for the purpose of providing financial and food assistance benefits, and authorizes a county to deliver CalFresh and CalWORKs benefits through the use of the EBT system.

Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, the California State University, and the University of California as the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in the state. Existing law requires each campus of the California Community Colleges and the Trustees of the California State University, and requests the Regents of the University of California, to provide, as a part of campus orientation, educational information to all incoming students about certain public benefit programs, including, among others, CalFresh and the student eligibility requirements for CalFresh.

This bill would require, on or before September 1, 2025, each campus of the California Community Colleges and each campus of the California State University, and request each University of California campus, if it has a general store or a store that sells food on campus, to identify and apply for at least one general store or a store that sells food on campus to become an authorized retail food store under SNAP and, if approved, ensure the store or stores accept the use of EBT cards, as specified. To the extent that the bill would impose new duties on community college districts, it would impose a state-mandated local program.

(2) Existing law requires each community college campus to establish the position of the Basic Needs Coordinator to assist students with on- and off-campus housing, food, mental health, and other basic needs services and resources, among other responsibilities, and to establish a Basic Needs Center where basic needs services, resources, and staff are made available to students, as provided. Existing law requires each community college campus to develop a document for students that clearly lists all on- and off-campus basic needs services and resources that includes specified information. Existing law requires each community college campus to report specified information related to basic needs services and resources to the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, and requires the chancellor’s office to develop and submit to the Governor and the Legislature an annual report based on, among other things, the data and information reported by campuses.

This bill would require each community college campus, on or before September 1, 2025, to update the basic needs services and resources document to include the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service’s “SNAP Retail Locator” internet website link, as specified. To the extent that the bill would impose new duties on community college districts, it would impose a state-mandated local program.

This bill would require each California State University campus, and request each University of California campus, to also establish the position of Basic Needs Coordinator and establish a Basic Needs Center, as described above. The bill would also require each California State University campus, and request each University of California campus, to develop, on or before February 1, 2025, among other things, a document for students that clearly lists on- and off-campus basic needs services and resources that includes specified information, including the “SNAP Retail Locator” internet website link, as specified. The bill would require each California State University campus to report to the office of the Chancellor of the California State University, and would request each University of California campus to report to the office of the President of the University of California, specified information related to basic needs services and resources. The bill would require the office of the Chancellor of the California State University, and would request the office of the President of the University of California, to develop and submit to the Governor and the Legislature on or before March 1 of every year from 2026 to 2030, inclusive, a report based on, among other things, the data and information reported by the campuses.

(3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YES

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 66023.4 is added to the Education Code, to read:

66023.4.

(a) As used in this section:

(1) “Basic needs services and resources” includes, but is not limited to, housing, food, clothing, feminine hygiene, diapers, technology, childcare, and mental health services and resources.

(2) “Coordinator” means a basic needs coordinator established pursuant to this section.

(b) Each campus of the California State University shall, and each campus of the University of California is requested to, do all of the following:

(1) On or before July 1, 2025, establish the position of the Basic Needs Coordinator, and designate a staff person as the Basic Needs Coordinator to serve as the single point of contact for students experiencing basic needs insecurity related to basic needs services and resources. The coordinator shall act as a broker in identifying, supporting, and linking students to on- and off-campus housing, food, mental health, and other basic needs services and resources. To ensure the effectiveness and impact of this position, the coordinator shall be a dedicated position solely focused on addressing the basic needs of students and meet qualifications such as experience providing services to high-need and diverse populations. The coordinator shall oversee and coordinate with other staff tasked with addressing students’ basic needs, shall inform students of on- and off-campus basic needs services and resources and how to access them, and shall develop on- and off-campus partnerships to provide basic needs services and resources to their students.

(2) (A) On or before July 1, 2025, establish a Basic Needs Center, which means a central location on campus where basic needs services, resources, and staff are made available to students. The Basic Needs Center is intended to be a one-stop, single location and point of contact for students to more easily access and gain awareness of basic needs services and resources. The campus shall make a reasonable effort to locate all on-campus basic needs services and resources at the Basic Needs Center. If the campus cannot reasonably locate all basic needs services or resources at the Basic Needs Center, the campus shall provide students with the location and contact information, including name, telephone number, and email address, for all basic needs services and resources not located in the Basic Needs Center. The coordinator shall be housed in the Basic Needs Center.

(B) Each Basic Needs Center shall do all of the following:

(i) Help ensure that students have the information they need to enroll in CalFresh, the California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC), the Young Child Tax Credit (YCTC), the California Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and other relevant government benefits programs. This clause does not require campus Basic Needs Centers to provide tax advising or preparation services.

(ii) Coordinate with their campus financial aid department or financial aid office. This clause does not require nor encourage the Basic Needs Center to be combined or colocated with the financial aid department or financial aid office.

(iii) Connect students to the financial aid department or financial aid office as appropriate to ensure that students are receiving all available financial aid.

(iv) Coordinate with their local homelessness response system to refer students to community resources available to address homelessness in addition to services and resources provided by the campus.

(C) Basic Needs Centers may provide support to students who can be reasonably expected to enroll in the upcoming term and to provide support to students during summer and winter breaks who were previously enrolled or are enrolled for the upcoming fall or spring term.

(D) Campuses shall endeavor, to the extent feasible, to use a portion of any funds made available for basic needs support for providing funds directly to students to address urgent needs. To the extent that a Basic Needs Center is already in place, that center may be used to satisfy the requirements of this section. If the existing Basic Needs Center fulfills only part of the requirements of this section, basic needs services and resources shall be expanded as needed to satisfy all the requirements of this section.

(3) (A) On or before February 1, 2025, develop a document that shall be provided to students at the Basic Needs Center, once established pursuant to paragraph (2), in either electronic format or paper form, and that shall be made available to students online, that clearly lists on- and off-campus basic needs services and resources that includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:

(i) The description of the service or resource.

(ii) The location of where the service or resource is provided.

(iii) The point of contact for the service or resource, including a name, telephone number, and email address.

(iv) Any eligibility restrictions on accessing the service or resource.

(v) The United States Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service’s “SNAP Retail Locator” internet website link, which contains a map with locations that are authorized retail food stores under the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and accept the use of electronic benefits transfer cards issued pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 10065) of Part 1 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(B) Provide the document to students as a part of campus orientations in either electronic format or paper form.

(C) Provide to faculty the online link to the electronic format of the document, the location of the Basic Needs Center, once established pursuant to paragraph (2), and the contact information for the coordinator, once designated pursuant to paragraph (1), and encourage faculty to include the online link to the electronic format of the document, the location of the Basic Needs Center, and the contact information for the coordinator in their syllabi.

(D) To ensure that the document remains useful to students, the document shall be reviewed, updated, and made available online on both the internet website of the campus via the student basic needs tab and the internet website-based student account associated with a student’s attendance at the institution, as specified in paragraph (6), no later than the first day of every fall semester or fall quarter.

(4) On or before February 1, 2025, streamline the application and intake process for on-campus basic needs services and resources to minimize duplication and eliminate barriers to access. If an application is required, develop and use a single application for students to receive on-campus basic needs services and resources.

(5) On or before February 1, 2025, develop and implement a plan to identify and provide outreach to students, including nontraditional students, who have basic needs insecurity related to housing, food, and mental health. Once the coordinator is designated pursuant to paragraph (1) and the Basic Needs Center is established pursuant to paragraph (2), the outreach shall include information about the coordinator and the Basic Needs Center.

(6) On or before February 1, 2025, provide a student basic needs tab that is clearly visible and easily accessible from a drop-down menu on the home page of the campus’ internet website and include the information described in paragraph (3) conspicuously on both the internet website of the campus via the student basic needs tab and the internet website-based student account associated with a student’s attendance at the institution. Once the coordinator is designated pursuant to paragraph (1) and the Basic Needs Center is established pursuant to paragraph (2), information about the coordinator and Basic Needs Center shall also be included on both the internet website of the campus via the student basic needs tab and the internet website-based student account associated with a student’s attendance at the institution.

(c) (1) Each campus of the California State University shall report to the office of the Chancellor of the California State University, and each campus of the University of California is requested to report to the office of the President of the University of California, information that shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(A) The description and number of basic needs services and resources, broken down by category.

(B) The number of students served by the basic needs services and resources.

(D) Challenges and best practices in the implementation of the basic needs services and resources.

(E) Whether students who used the basic needs services and resources remained enrolled or graduated from that campus.

(F) The number of students who first started receiving CalFresh benefits in the previous year and the total number of students in the previous year who received CalFresh benefits, as provided by the State Department of Social Services.

(G) Whether the campus has a data sharing agreement with the relevant county operating the CalFresh program for the purpose of identifying new, continuing, and returning students who are potentially eligible for CalFresh benefits, or efforts underway to enact such an agreement.

(2) The data and information reported under this subdivision shall be disaggregated by each basic needs service and resource, where applicable.

(3) Campuses are encouraged to collaborate with the State Department of Social Services to obtain the data identified in paragraph (1), as applicable.

(d) (1) The office of the Chancellor of the California State University shall, and the office of the President of the University of California is requested to, develop and submit to the Governor and the Legislature, on or before March 1 of each year from 2026 to 2030, inclusive, a report based on the data and information reported by campuses pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (c) and information on the use of funds made available from the Budget Act of 2022 to implement this section.

(2) A legislative report that includes the information required to be reported in this subdivision and submitted in any of the years 2026 to 2030, inclusive, shall fulfill the reporting requirement pursuant to this subdivision to reduce duplicative efforts.

(e) This section does not preclude the California State University and the University of California from having additional basic needs staff who assist the Basic Needs Coordinator in completing the requirements of subdivision (b).

SEC. 2.

Section 66023.5 of the Education Code is amended to read:

66023.5.

(a) As used in this section:

(1) “Basic needs services and resources” includes, but is not limited to, housing, food, clothing, feminine hygiene, diapers, technology, childcare, and mental health services and resources.

(2) “Coordinator” means a basic needs coordinator established pursuant to this section.

(b) Each campus of the California Community Colleges shall do all of the following:

(1) No later than July 1, 2022, establish the position of the Basic Needs Coordinator, and designate a staff person as the Basic Needs Coordinator to serve as the single point of contact for students experiencing basic needs insecurity related to basic needs services and resources. The coordinator shall act as a broker in identifying, supporting, and linking students to on- and off-campus housing, food, mental health, and other basic needs services and resources. To ensure the effectiveness and impact of this position, the coordinator shall be a dedicated position solely focused on addressing the basic needs of students and meet qualifications such as experience providing services to high-need and diverse populations. The coordinator shall oversee and coordinate with other staff tasked with addressing students’ basic needs, shall inform students of on- and off-campus basic needs services and resources and how to access them, and shall develop on- and off-campus partnerships to provide basic needs services and resources to their students.

(2) (A) No later than July 1, 2022, establish a Basic Needs Center, which means a central location on campus where basic needs services, resources, and staff are made available to students. The Basic Needs Center is intended to be a one-stop, single location and point of contact for students to more easily access and gain awareness of basic needs services and resources. The campus shall make a reasonable effort to locate all on-campus basic needs services and resources at the Basic Needs Center. If the campus cannot reasonably locate all basic needs services or resources at the Basic Needs Center, the campus shall provide students with the location and contact information, including name, telephone number, and email address, for all basic needs services and resources not located in the Basic Needs Center. The coordinator shall be housed in the Basic Needs Center.

(B) Each Basic Needs Center shall help ensure that students have the information they need to enroll in CalFresh, the California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC), the Young Child Tax Credit (YCTC), the California Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and other relevant government benefits programs. Each Basic Needs Center shall coordinate with their campus financial aid department or financial aid office. This section does not require nor encourage the Basic Needs Center to be combined or colocated with the financial aid department or financial aid office. The funding made available by the Budget Act of 2021 to implement this section, or any subsequent Budget Act or statute to implement this section, shall not be used to combine or colocate the Basic Needs Center with the financial aid department or financial aid office and shall not be used for the administration of student financial aid programs, including staffing. Each Basic Needs Center shall connect students to the financial aid department or financial aid office as appropriate to ensure that students are receiving all available financial aid. Each Basic Needs Center shall coordinate with their local homelessness response system to refer students to community resources available to address homelessness in addition to services and resources provided by the campus. Basic Needs Centers may provide support to students who can be reasonably expected to enroll in the upcoming term and to provide support to students during summer and winter breaks who were previously enrolled or are enrolled for the upcoming fall or spring term.

(C) Campuses shall endeavor, to the extent feasible, to use a portion of any funds made available for basic needs support for providing funds directly to students to address urgent needs. To the extent that a Basic Needs Center is already in place, that center may be used to satisfy the requirements of this section. If the existing Basic Needs Center fulfills only part of the requirements of this section, basic needs services and resources shall be expanded as needed to satisfy all the requirements of this section.

(3) (A) No later than February 1, 2022, develop a document that shall be provided to students at the Basic Needs Center, once established pursuant to paragraph (2), in either electronic format or paper form, and that shall be made available to students online, that clearly lists on- and off-campus basic needs services and resources that includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:

(i) The description of the service or resource.

(ii) The location of where the service or resource is provided.

(iii) The point of contact for the service or resource, including a name, telephone number, and email address.

(iv) Any eligibility restrictions on accessing the service or resource.

(B) On or before September 1, 2025, update the document developed pursuant to subparagraph (A) to include in the list of on- and off-campus basic needs services and resources the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service’s “SNAP Retail Locator” internet website link, which contains a map with locations that are authorized retail food stores under the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and accept the use of electronic benefits transfer cards issued pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 10065) of Part 1 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(D) Provide to faculty the online link to the electronic format of the document, the location of the Basic Needs Center, once established pursuant to paragraph (2), and the contact information for the coordinator, once designated pursuant to paragraph (1), and encourage faculty to include the online link to the electronic format of the document, the location of the Basic Needs Center, and the contact information for the coordinator in their syllabi.

(E) To ensure that the document remains useful to students, the document shall be reviewed, updated, and made available online on both the internet website of the campus via the student basic needs tab and the internet website-based student account associated with a student’s attendance at the institution, as specified in paragraph (6), no later than the first day of every fall and spring semester or no later than the first day of every fall and spring quarter.

(4) No later than February 1, 2022, streamline the application and intake process for on-campus basic needs services and resources to minimize duplication and eliminate barriers to access. If an application is required, develop and use a single application for students to receive on-campus basic needs services and resources.

(5) No later than February 1, 2022, develop and implement a plan to identify and provide outreach to students, including nontraditional students, who have basic needs insecurity related to housing, food, and mental health. Once the coordinator is designated pursuant to paragraph (1) and the Basic Needs Center is established pursuant to paragraph (2), the outreach shall include information about the coordinator and the Basic Needs Center.

(6) No later than February 1, 2022, provide a student basic needs tab that is clearly visible and easily accessible from a drop-down menu on the home page of the campus’ internet website and include the information described in paragraph (3) conspicuously on both the internet website of the campus via the student basic needs tab and the internet website-based student account associated with a student’s attendance at the institution. Once the coordinator is designated pursuant to paragraph (1) and the Basic Needs Center is established pursuant to paragraph (2), information about the coordinator and Basic Needs Center shall also be included on both the internet website of the campus via the student basic needs tab and the internet website-based student account associated with a student’s attendance at the institution.

(c) (1) Each campus of the California Community Colleges shall report to the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges information that shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(A) The description and number of basic needs services and resources, broken down by category.

(B) The number of students served by the basic needs services and resources.

(D) Challenges and best practices in the implementation of the basic needs services and resources.

(E) Whether students who used the basic needs services and resources remained enrolled or graduated from that campus.

(2) The data and information reported under this subdivision shall be disaggregated by each basic needs service and resource, where applicable.

(3) Campuses are encouraged to collaborate with the State Department of Social Services to obtain the data identified in paragraph (1), as applicable.

(d) (1) The office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges shall develop and submit to the Governor and the Legislature every year beginning on or before May 1, 2023, a report based on the data and information reported by campuses pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (c) and information on the use of funds made available from the Budget Act of 2022 to implement this section.

(2) A legislative report that includes the information required to be reported in this subdivision and submitted in any of the years required by paragraph (1) shall fulfill the reporting requirement pursuant to this subdivision to reduce duplicative efforts.

SEC. 3.

Section 66027.2 is added to the Education Code, to read:

66027.2.

(a) Subject to subdivision (b), on or before September 1, 2025, each campus of the California Community Colleges and each campus of the California State University shall, and each campus of the University of California is requested to, identify and apply for at least one general store or a store that sells food on campus to become an authorized retail food store under the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and, if approved, ensure the store or stores, within a reasonable time, accept the use of electronic benefits transfer cards issued pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 10065) of Part 1 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(b) If a campus does not have a general store or a store that sells food on campus, subdivision (a) does not apply.

SEC. 4.

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.