Two Democratic Californian legislators reintroduced a bill designed to target the basic needs crisis among students in higher education Sept. 18.

The Basic Assistance for Students in College Act – which Democrats first introduced in June 2021 – would create a $1 billion grant program for higher education institutions to provide funds for research and address food, housing, health care, child care, technology and transportation needs, according to a press release from Senator Alex Padilla, one of the people who introduced the bill.

The legislation – also introduced by Representative Norma J. Torres – additionally mandates that federal agencies share data to identify and help enroll students who may be eligible for aid, according to the press release.

“As college costs rise, the BASIC Act addresses these challenges by fostering collaboration among federal agencies and supporting colleges in identifying and aiding students in need,” Torres said in the press release. “This bill will help ensure that all students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, can succeed without compromising their well-being.”

Of the funds allocated, $40 million would be for planning grants, which would last two years and give up to $75,000 for schools to conduct basic needs assessments. These evaluations would help understand the resources needed on campus and develop a strategy to provide them, according to the bill’s text.

The bill’s text also states that $960 million will be allocated to five-year implementation grants – up to $1 million per institution – to help schools create basic needs infrastructure and meet the goals of the act. One quarter of grants will go to community colleges and another 25% will go to minority-serving institutions including historically Black colleges and tribal colleges.

Ruben Canedo, a co-chair of the UC Systemwide Basic Needs Committee, said in an emailed statement that students are not to blame for the current basic needs crisis.

“This crisis is by design,” he said in the statement. “The equation of federal funding, state funding, institutional funding, and fundraising is NOT keeping up with the consistently more expensive markets across the costs of living – primarily housing and medical/health expenses.”

Canedo added in the statement that the BASIC Act will activate a national discussion around the basic needs crisis, motivating colleges to consider, apply and prepare to receive funding.

“The BASIC Act will help us continue deepening and expanding the culture change needed across higher education towards meeting the basic needs of students,” Canedo said in the statement. “Our hope is that areas that have not received any funding or limited funding to provide basic needs resources and services will earn these federal funds.”

Chiara Frank, the undergraduate students association council’s student wellness commissioner, said she has concerns about the allocation of these resources. She added that some universities may be wealthier, more resourced or have more experience applying to grants, an advantage that may leave small or lower income schools behind when applying for funding.

“Many schools may not have the capacity to apply for this, or maybe don’t even know how to, because they haven’t done this before,” she said.

Frank also said legislators should address the underlying causes of failures to meet basic needs, including tuition and unaffordable housing costs, as sources of large student spending.

Universities and lawmakers should invest time in looking at the barriers communities face, including the undocumented student population, Frank said. Layla Ruiz, the co-director of Frank’s office’s BruiNecessities program, added that basic needs support for undocumented students is particularly important since they cannot earn money working campus jobs.

“I think we’ve talked a lot about that on our campus, just working with student groups and looking at, not necessarily advocating for these populations, but advocating with them, lifting up their voices and their efforts in work that is already being done in these areas,” Frank said.

[Related: Newsom vetoes bill that would allow undocumented students to hold campus jobs]

Ruiz said she works directly with students facing the basic needs crisis and believes the bill would be a way to provide resources to communities that need it the most.

“I’ve been in BruiNecessities for four years, and it’s kind of always reoccurring that students are struggling with basic needs, things like food, hygiene, health care,” she said. “To have this pass, a lot more funding, which is what a lot of programs – even my club – struggle with to really provide those needs for the students that need them.”

Even though UCLA is an institution that already has access to funding and grants and provides some resources, there still is not enough for everyone in need, Ruiz said.

Ruiz said she hopes UCLA would spend any funds received from the act on BruiNecessities’ basic needs gift card program. The program, which provides gift cards redeemable at the UCLA Store for pre-approved essential hygiene household items, gives students more autonomy over selecting what to spend funds on, but with increasing applicants and little funding, needs are not being met, she added.

As the previous menstrual hygiene director of BruiNecessities, Ruiz also added that she has noticed how much students in need appreciated having menstrual products in the bathrooms. She added that she has tried to provide better products, but has made little progress due to a lack of funds.

“I have personally had individuals email or talk to us at fairs, or even right now that I’m conducting interviews for our club, bring up the fact that having resources and funding has changed their life and has made them felt like a weight is lifted off of their shoulder,” she said. “They don’t have to worry about what their next paycheck is going to go to when they already have to pay for school or pay for their housing.”

Ruiz said she hopes programs like the BASIC Act will target all students in need, regardless of residency status.

“We’re all human,” she said. “We all need this stuff.”