Torres Secures Funding to Address Student Hunger, Homelessness & Basic Needs
WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Norma J. Torres (CA-35) today announced that she secured $5 million to fund a pilot program of her legislation, the BASIC Act, as part of the Omnibus Appropriations package that passed out of Congress last night.
Then-Senator and now Vice President-elect Kamala Harris introduced the counterpart of the Basic Assistance for Students in College (BASIC) Act in the U.S. Senate.
The legislation is designed to ensure college students – particularly Pell Grant recipients, attendees of community colleges and minority-serving institutions – are able to meet their basic needs while pursuing their education. The pilot program will provide grants to ensure institutions of higher learning have the resources they need to support their students' day-to-day needs, such as food pantries, child care and temporary housing.
"No student should have to fall sleep in a car because their rent money went to tuition, or hobble together a meal from someone else's scraps just to make ends meet," Rep. Torres said. "If fully enacted, the BASIC Act will empower colleges and universities across the country to better meet their students' most fundamental needs, and prevent these hardships that impact young people across the country. The pilot program launching as a result of the funds I secured last night is only a down payment on the full potential of the BASIC Act, but it will make a world of difference to deserving your students and demonstrate to my colleagues in Congress why full funding is so important for this vital piece of legislation."
The Omnibus Appropriations package passed Congress on December 21st and now awaits a signature from the president to become law.
More information about the BASIC Act is available here.
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