Welcome back after the long weekend! I started the week with a great afternoon at City Councilmember Ben Kallos' office meeting with his extraordinary legislative director, Wlifredo Lopez.
We began with several items I am seeking funding for—water jets/water bottle filling stations and grow towers/gardens for every school. He suggested that we advocate for funding for these items from the Speaker's budget for 2020-2021. I will be preparing an ask for the Speaker's budget director, and then we will divide up and lobby all councilmembers to have them add our asks to their own list of Speaker Priorities. Stay tuned for information on our Lobby Day!
Wilfredo will also look into a legislative request for a mandate requiring water jets in all schools.
We also spoke about the importance of lengthening lunch times. Wilfredo is going to look into whether a legislative request exists on this topic, and also suggested that I meet with CM Treyger's team which I will do. Stay tuned!
We also spoke about establishing a school perimeter ban and maximum idle time for Mister Softee trucks. We are speaking to the Mayor's Office about a potential Executive Order and possible changes to the administrative code.
Finally, the scratch-cooking implementation bill is expected to pass along with the entire Food Equity Package sponsored by the Speaker. I will be following up to see when the vote is planned and what the final bill looks like as I added significant language to add more detail to the bill.
Stay tuned for more information on our Lobby Day!
Andrea
