AB 79: College Students & Basic Needs
- Rachel Bonilla
- May 9
- 3 min read
Friday, May 9th, 2025
Graphic Credits: FARSB
Advocating for policies that will help meet community members' basic needs is at the heart of our mission at FARSB. The Assembly and Senate Bills under consideration impact the Inland Empire and its many residents. With Riverside County alone having more than 20 campuses, this represents a significant portion of the population.
Students often face additional barriers to accessing public or social benefits, which can hinder those in need. With changing housing statuses, particularly for students transferring from community colleges to major universities, the process tends to be somewhat convoluted. This is why Assembly Member Arambula has championed AB 79.
AB 79 Overview
This Assembly Bill aims to create better and more efficient ways to ensure that California college students have access to public benefits, thereby alleviating food and housing insecurity among the student population.
The bill attempts to create a network of representatives from each campus that will be tasked with researching and addressing students' basic needs. This appointee will share information for best practices and use data and trends from all counties to help create a better framework for addressing these needs more efficiently in the future.
Meeting the Need
AB 79, spearheaded by Assembly Member Joaquin Arambula, aims to ensure that college students can more easily access federal and state social programs, which often have lower enrollment rates among university students seeking benefits. Though college students tend to have higher rates of food insecurity, housing instability, and issues surrounding employment, meeting financial needs, they also face higher rejection rates for program applications like CalFresh or SNAP.
With the need clear, we still have not yet streamlined the process for students seeking to get vital benefits. This can cause a larger number of students who could be eligible for benefits to be denied due to differing county qualifications.
Streamlining the process and ensuring there is proper information sharing can help boost the number of applicants and approvals over time, helping to stabilize the housing and food insecurity rates among college students. Getting the information out to students on what qualifications are necessary to receive benefits, how to address housing status changes, and what benefits are needed the most all help play a role in the success of such programs.
What's in the Bill?
AB 79 goes over several points, but some of the main items that the bill addresses are outlined below. These points ensure that the bill succeeds in creating a better system to support college students through their higher education journey.
With the elimination of inconsistencies for acceptance or rejection from social programs, students will have a more stable process for applying and receiving benefits. Students tend to face more qualification stipulations than the general population because of work requirements and incoming financial aid or grants. Ridding the system of these inconsistencies can help more students get the help they need.
Each county will also appoint a representative who will research and address students' basic needs on campus. This is done to ensure that more students are receiving assistance where needed, and so data and trends that help the student population are catalogued and shared as best practices with other universities across the state. Information sharing through this network aims to promote better student success and a statewide rise in student basic needs being met.
Wrap-Up
College students are working toward a better career outcome and studying to become some of the most important members of our society. Every nurse, social worker, and teacher goes through proper schooling, and all are vital for our society to function. Addressing the basic needs of students while on campus will provide better assistance for the next generation of professionals when they need it most.
Bills like AB 79 would help bridge the gap between the administration, the state government, and the students, all in hopes of creating better lives for students who are focusing on building a better future. While this does not necessarily alleviate food insecurity specifically, it is legislation that would assist in that same goal, and we wholeheartedly support that mission.
If you want to stay updated on legislation being passed that affects FARSB's mission, please visit: FeedingIE.org/advocacy
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