New York Governor Hochu announced on January 10th that in the next fiscal year (from April of this year to March of next year), free school breakfast and lunch will be provided to over 2.7 million students statewide in the budget, with no eligibility restrictions, allowing all students to benefit.
Hochu unveiled this fifth proposal of the 2025 State of the State Address at Westbury Middle School on Long Island, stating that the budget for the next fiscal year will allocate funds to provide free breakfast and lunch to every student in every school statewide, regardless of whether the school participates in the federal subsidized Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program or the income of the student’s family.
Hochu mentioned that free school meals can promote learning, improve test scores, enhance attendance rates and classroom performance, and save parents more money.
This proposal for comprehensive free school meals will benefit nearly 300,000 more students, encompassing all 2.7 million students statewide, estimated to save parents $165 per child on monthly grocery expenses and $2,000 annually.
Hochu is set to deliver the State of the State Address on January 14th. The proposal for comprehensive free school meals has garnered support from the majority leader of the State Senate, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, as well as several Republican legislators. State Attorney General Letitia James also released a statement saying that hunger impacts students’ academic performance and happiness, and she has long advocated for every student to have access to free meals, expressing her delight that this issue has finally been addressed.
Currently, eight states in the United States provide comprehensive free school meals for students, with proposals also being put forth in Congress last year. New York City, as the nation’s largest school district, already offers free breakfast and lunch to students.