New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is proposing funding universal school meals in the next state budget as part of her State of the State executive agenda that she estimates will feed more than 2.7 million students, she announced Friday.

The governor's office said this program will help save families an estimated $165 on groceries per child each month. And if students currently buy meals at school every day, the state says it will save parents $2,000 per child a year, as well as address food insecurity among children and create more opportunities for students to succeed. 

“The research is clear: good food in the lunchroom creates good grades in the classroom,” Hochul said in a statement. “I'm proposing free school meals for every student in New York – giving kids the sustenance they need and putting more money back in parents' pockets.”

Past cost estimates on universal coverage for school districts in the state have come to about $250 million. Currently, about $145 million of the state's $237 billion budget funds free school meals in low-income districts.

Several state lawmakers have pushed for universal school meals over the last few years. A proposal was introduced in the state Legislature last year by state Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas and state Sen. Michelle Hinchey, but did not get past committees. The same legislation was reintroduced on Wednesday as state lawmakers returned to Albany for the new legislative session.

State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie have thrown their support behind the measure this week, as well as several Republican lawmakers.

• SEE ALSO | Universal free school meals could get bipartisan support in N.Y.

Universal school meals is also supported by state Attorney General Letitia James.

“For years, I have called for every New York student to have access to free lunches, and I am glad this is finally being addressed," James said in a statement Friday. 

In 2023, expansions in eligibility at the federal level and state budget subsidies expanded the number of students who could take part in free school meals.

Eight states in the U.S. currently have universal free school meals for students. At the national level, a bill was introduced in Congress last year that would provide free breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack to all students regardless of income.

Hochul will lay out her executive proposals in her annual State of the State address in Albany next Tuesday.