House committee hears bill to create need-based food grants for Georgia college students

Representative Barry, sponsor of House Bill 716, told the House Higher Education Committee the bill would create a need-based tuition-adjacent grant to help postsecondary students afford food. "This bill would...create a need-based financial aid program to provide grants to eligible students ... for the purpose of combating food insecurity among postsecondary students," Barry said.

The bill, called the Hunger Free Campus Act in committee testimony, would direct the Georgia Student Finance Commission to establish the program subject to appropriation. Eligibility in the draft relies on the committee's stated definition of "economically disadvantaged" (an income-based threshold tied to Census definitions and adjusted annually) and current financial-aid rules — students would have to have completed FAFSA or demonstrate a financial-aid gap. The draft caps a grant award at an amount not to exceed the highest meal-plan cost at a recipient school, a figure sponsors described using examples: University of Georgia about $2,200; Georgia Tech about $2,400; Georgia State roughly $300 per month as cited in testimony.

Nut graf: Supporters told the committee that a sizeable share of Georgia college students struggle with hunger and that a targeted grant could help students persist. Representative Barry said 43% of undergraduate students in the University System of Georgia qualify for Pell grants and that 29% of Georgia college students report food insecurity; witnesses cited state and national surveys and local campus programs as evidence that the problem is widespread.

Speakers from nonprofit organizations and students described how food insecurity affects attendance, concentration and retention. Corinne Schoolly of Achieve Atlanta told the committee her organization surveys low-income students and finds roughly 20% report food access as a barrier; "when students do not have food security, it is impairing their ability to persist and earn that credential," she said. Kendra Jaboe, a student at Georgia State University, described receiving $60 a week from her parents and sometimes skipping meals: "If I didn't have to worry every single week about whether I could eat, I could actually focus in my classes," she said. Blake Osborne, director of programming at the Joseph Lowery Institute, said roughly 6,000 students used his pantry last year at three Atlanta campuses.

Committee members and witnesses discussed how grants could be delivered without causing overawards or violating federal aid rules. Representative Barry and witnesses said the commission could administer the awards through financial-aid offices so payments align with students' overall aid packages; Achieve Atlanta recommended that state dollars be distributable as "indirect expenses" (money students can spend on basic needs rather than remitted to the institution) so students who do not live on campus could receive help. Barry said she had asked for a fiscal note and referred to other states: Louisiana's comparable program cost about $2,550,000 and Oklahoma used about $200,000 of state funds, while Oklahoma allows cards students can use at retail outlets.

Committee direction: Several members urged more technical work in the interim. Vice Chairman Sweeney and others asked the sponsor to work with the Georgia Student Finance Commission and the University System of Georgia on implementation details — how awards would be delivered, whether the awards would be loaded to meal cards or direct-to-student, how institutions would avoid overawards, and how the program would target students at different institutions. Barry said she will pursue interim meetings with the commission and USG.

Ending: The committee took no formal action on HB 716 during the hearing. Sponsors and proponents told the committee they would continue technical work over the summer and fall.