OH HB590

Establishes the Hunger-Free Campus Grant Program administered by the Chancellor of Higher Education to award grants to state and private nonprofit higher education institutions, prioritizing those with higher percentages of Pell grant-eligible students.

Grants must be used to support basic needs infrastructure, maximize federal food assistance programs, build strategic partnerships to address student food insecurity, and raise awareness of available resources.

Institutions can earn a "Hunger-Free Campus" designation by providing free meals or emergency funds to food-insecure students and establishing an on-campus food pantry, plus implementing at least three of five additional requirements including disseminating information about food assistance programs and conducting biennial food security surveys.

Hunger-Free Campus designations are valid for two years, and the Chancellor must report to the Governor and General Assembly within two years on grant awards, student support examples, program impacts, and recommendations for ongoing funding.

Appropriates $2,500,000 from the General Revenue Fund for fiscal year 2025 to support the grant program.