On Thursday, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) visited Eagle Point Elementary School where she spoke to reporters about her universal school meals plan.
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NewsTranscript
06:30Thank you, sir.
06:56I don't want kids to trip up.
07:16Thank you for joining us here at Eagle Point Elementary School, a place that really relies
07:21on the federal government for subsidizing these lunches that we're seeing these children
07:26eat.
07:27And to think that Albany County right now gets $6 million from the federal government
07:32to give these children the nutrition they need for breakfast and lunch, and that is
07:36in jeopardy with the elimination of the Department of Education we just learned officially about
07:41today.
07:42So, that's a $2 billion hit for New York State if they eliminate this program.
07:47We're very concerned about it, and this absolutely flies in the face of what I'm trying to do
07:51here in the state of New York, which is to make life more affordable for people, which
07:55is why in my budget I propose to cover the complete cost of breakfast and lunch for families
08:02per child.
08:03It is going to be $1,600 back in their pockets, two kids, it's $3,200, you do the math.
08:08So I'm proud to be here today to support this, but I'm very concerned that the Department
08:13of Education head, a pro-wrestling mogul, is now acting like a schoolyard bully and
08:19picking on the most vulnerable.
08:21Because we also get a lot of money from the Department of Education for Pell Grants, we
08:26get 400,000 students have a chance at a higher education because of that, half a million
08:31kids with disabilities get money from the Department of Education, as well as the fact
08:37that 60% of children in the state of New York are lower income, again, funded by the Department
08:42of Education, which they're eliminating.
08:44So this is the fight we're taking on, and if they come into a room like this and talk
08:48about these kids now having to not have lunches, that is downright cruel.
08:52I say that as not just the governor, but as a mother.
08:54Anything on topic?
08:55Governor, how does the elimination of the agency affect budget talks for you?
09:00Do you have to change anything in negotiations?
09:03As I've said all along, they have been saying they're going to dismantle government, and
09:08so no state in this country can make up for this loss.
09:11If this is just $2 billion alone for school lunches, there's no financial way that we
09:19can make up for this or the $93 billion we get from the federal government.
09:23So this is why we're sounding the alarm and calling on our Republican members of Congress
09:28to step up and protect your constituents.
09:31All right.
09:32Enjoy the mac and cheese, everybody.