"We're fighting for every child in the state of New York, to have the best outcome in life," Hochul told a crowd at Westbury Middle School in Nassau County Friday morning. "So we are going to be talking about ensuring that New York state has the universal school breakfast and lunch program launched everywhere. The data is clear. It sets our kids up for a life of positivity, engagement with others."
"Across the state working families are asking us to address affordability and the rising rates of hunger," Assemblywoman Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas (D-Queens) wrote in a statement. "Today is a step forward in ensuring that no student in New York goes hungry as they learn in our schools."
Provisions to expand access to free school meals were included in both the state Senate and Assembly's one-house budget proposals last year before they fizzled during negotiations. Two years ago, students even piled empty school lunch trays in front of the governor's offices in the state capitol to protest her evident unwillingness to expand the program.
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