CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT

SECOND SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1559

68TH LEGISLATURE

2023 REGULAR SESSION

SECOND SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1559

AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE

ByHouse Appropriations (originally sponsored by Representatives Entenman, Fitzgibbon, Stonier, Paul, Riccelli, Bergquist, Pollet, and Leavitt)

AN ACT Relating to the student basic needs at public postsecondary institutions act; adding a new section to chapter 28B.10 RCW; creating new sections; and providing an expiration date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Therefore, the legislature intends to continue to support students and help students meet their basic needs by increasing access to resources and support services.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 28B.10 RCW to read as follows:

(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, each institution of higher education, the university campuses created under chapter 28B.45 RCW, and the tribal college must have a minimum of one benefits navigator employed at a minimum .75 full-time equivalent rate, not to be divided between two or more staff, to assist students in accessing public benefits, existing emergency assistance programs such as those funded by RCW 28B.50.295, and other community resources. Each benefits navigator must be stationed at a single location on campus where students are directed to receive assistance. The institutions of higher education and the tribal college, in coordination with the respective benefits navigators, must each develop a hunger-free and basic needs campus strategic plan by April 1, 2024. Each strategic plan must:

(a) Identify campus food pantry policies that, in practice, create barriers to access and reduce or remove those barriers in the implementation of this subsection;

(b) Review and update methods to identify likely low-income and food-insecure students and conduct communications and outreach methods by the institution to promote opportunities for benefits assistance (such as basic food enrollment, working connections child care enrollment, referrals to the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children, affordable housing assistance) and emergency financial resources;

(c) Assess the needs and advantages of the benefits navigators;

(d) Identify opportunities for the institution and partnerships with community-based organizations to holistically support students' basic needs, access to benefits and community resources;

(e) Facilitate discussions and generate recommendations amongst community stakeholders on the basic needs of the institution's geographic postsecondary student population; and

(f) Assess the distribution of state funds for basic needs support provided to institutions of higher education and the tribal college.

(2) By the beginning of the 2024-25 academic year, the Washington student achievement council must collect and disseminate results of a student survey developed by the student achievement council, in collaboration with the state board for community and technical colleges and an organization representing the presidents of the public four-year institutions of higher education, to assess food security, housing security, and access to basic economic supports. Results from the survey may be used by the institutions of higher education and the tribal college. Existing survey tools may be used for this purpose.

(3) Public four-year institutions of higher education and their respective university campuses shall coordinate with an organization representing the presidents of the public four-year institutions to submit a report that must include outcomes from implementation of benefits navigators and findings and activities from their respective hunger-free and basic needs campus strategic plans. The community and technical colleges shall coordinate with the state board for community and technical colleges to submit a report that must include outcomes from implementation of benefits navigators and findings and activities from their respective hunger-free and basic needs campus strategic plans. The organizations representing the presidents of the public four-year institutions and the state board for community and technical colleges must submit the reports by December 1, 2025, and every other year thereafter, to the appropriate committees of the legislature in accordance with RCW 43.01.036.

(4) The tribal college shall submit a report that must include the findings and activities from implementation of the benefits navigator and findings and activities from the hunger-free and basic needs campus strategic plan. The tribal college must submit the report by December 1, 2025, and every other year thereafter, to the appropriate committees of the legislature in accordance with RCW 43.01.036.

(5) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

(a) "Benefits navigator" means an individual who is employed by an institution of higher education for the purpose of helping students seek, apply for, and receive assistance from benefits programs, emergency resources, and community resources.

(b) "Institutions of higher education" has the same meaning as in RCW 28B.10.016.

(c) "Student basic needs" means food, water, shelter, clothing, physical health, mental health, child care, or similar needs that students enrolled at an institution of higher education or tribal college may face difficulty with and that hinders their ability to begin or continue their enrollment.

(d) "Tribal colleges" means institutions of higher education operated by an Indian tribe as defined in RCW 43.376.010.

(a) Four college districts, two on each side of the crest of the Cascade mountains, selected by the state board for community and technical colleges; and

(b) Two public four-year institutions of higher education, one on each side of the crest of the Cascade mountains, selected by an organization representing the presidents of public four-year institutions.

(2) The pilot program expires July 1, 2026.

(3) This section expires January 1, 2027.

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