The City Council’s proposed budget to be unveiled Wednesday will push for two big priorities: free lunch for all public school kids and 1,000 new cops.
The Council is asking for $24 million to provide lunches regardless of how much money kids’ families make.
They’re also seeking $94 million to boost the police force to more than 36,400 cops, among other changes proposed to Mayor de Blasio’s budget.
Backers of the universal lunch program say the proposal would end the stigma that some poor kids feel when they line up for free lunch.
“Too many children in our city go hungry each day,” said Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. “Universal school lunch is an investment in our children and will ensure all students are able to eat a healthy, nutritious meal.”
About 75% of the city’s 1.1 million students qualify for free lunch — leaving roughly 350,000 kids whose parents either make too much to qualify or failed to fill out the necessary paperwork.
Advocates say some kids are too embarrassed to line up in the designated free lunch line, or suffer because their parents don’t bother to fill out the application or are undocumented and fear submitting any official paperwork.
Families of four with an annual income below $30,615 are entitled to free lunch, while those whose family income is below $43,568 get reduced-price lunch.
Mayor de Blasio’s preliminary budget, presented in February, didn’t include a universal free lunch program, nor did it propose hiring more cops.
The mayor has said the NYPD has enough officers, but Council members and other critics say they’re spread too thin. Police Commissioner Bill Bratton has said he’d prefer more cops, though he says he can get by with what he has.
The Council and the mayor must strike a final budget deal by the end of June.
For years, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed deep cuts in various city services which the Council then fought to restore.
The new mayor shied away from drastic cuts — and the Council will instead use its counter-proposal to tack on its own priorities.
