At the New York State Capitol Tuesday, the century-old tile floors along the upper Senate corridor had been newly waxed and shined, the seating and infrastructure were in place for the state Senate and Assembly welcome receptions on Wednesday, and a few lawmakers and staff members could be seen walking the halls on the eve of the 2026 legislative session.
The central theme of this year’s six-month rite in Albany promises to once again be affordability, and with the headwinds of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s winning campaign, concrete steps toward universal child care in New York will undoubtedly be a priority of many a progressive legislator.
In stark contrast to that stage dressing, the Trump Administration indicated this week that the Department of Health and Human Services will pause $10 million in social services funding to several Democrat-led states, and that includes key funding for child care programs, as first reported by the New York Post.
Health and Human Services spokesperson Andrew Nixon characterized the pause as an oversight a statement to Spectrum News 1.
“For too long, Democrat-led states and Governors have been complicit in allowing massive amounts of fraud to occur under their watch,” he said. “Under the Trump Administration, we are ensuring that federal taxpayer dollars are being used for legitimate purposes. We will ensure these states are following the law and protecting hard-earned taxpayer money.”
As of early Tuesday evening, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office said they have yet to receive any sort of notice or guidance from federal officials.
Earlier Tuesday, Hochul said as much and promised action should the pause officially move forward.
“Why is there such a frontal assault on children in this nation from this administration?” she said, likening the pause to the Trump Administration’s handling of SNAP benefits during the government shutdown this fall. “This is a fight we’re going to have to take on if we get that notification; it’s vindictive, I believe that we’ll be successful in court.”
As the legislative session kicks off and all focus in Albany turns to the state budget, discussions around funding streams for child care will become unavoidable.
Last year, the Child Care Assistance Program — the state’s primary vehicle for assisting low-income families in accessing care — experienced a spike in enrollment thanks to new eligibility standards, which funding levels did not adequately support. Late in the budget process, more money had to be allocated to keep the program afloat and counties still struggled with being forced to close enrollment and establish waitlists for much of the year.
Advocates have stressed that funding the program fully needs to be priority number one, with initial concrete steps toward phasing in universal child care close behind.
Dede Hill, vice president of policy at the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy, told Spectrum News 1 that while it’s too soon to tell if the pause will actually have a long-term impact on the state budget, it is alarming to advocates because federal money makes up a significant chunk of the money that supports the Child Care Assistance program.
“It’s a 2.2 billion dollar program in New York state and nearly half of that funding comes from the federal government,” she said.
Hill said that this isn’t the first time the Trump Administration has suddenly dropped funding freezes on states unexpectedly, but in several other cases, they have been rescinded or quickly resolved.
While she’s hopeful that will be the case this time, she emphasized that the situation should be taken seriously.
“It’s important to keep an eye on this. It’s an important source of funding and it needs to flow without delay in order to meet the needs of New York families,” she said.
Hill went on to say that if you put the federal funding threat aside, at the center of the discussion this upcoming session should be a dedicated funding stream for the child care workforce, the full funding of the Child Care Assistance Program, and community bridge projects to jumpstart the state’s push toward full universal child care.
“We cannot support universal child care without a supported and appropriately paid workforce,” she said. “And yes, we need some bridge to universal projects, and we would like to see those projects rolled out first in communities with high rates of families who are low income.”
Assemblymember Sarah Clark slammed the pause as “purely vindictive” and contrary to how she says the federal government should operate.
Looking ahead to the legislative session, she echoed Hill’s calls for investment in the child care workforce along with a hope that Hochul will unveil a budget proposal in the coming weeks that takes meaningful steps toward universal child care.
A key aspect of that question is funding. Hochul has long resisted increasing income taxes on the state’s highest earners as a means for paying for the pricier aspects of Mamdani’s agenda, but hasn’t ruled out other means, such as an increase to the corporate tax rate.
Clark said Hochul’s recent reluctance to rule out those other options leaves her hopeful.
“I’m hopeful that in her State of the State, she has some ideas and that we get down to the nuts and bolts here as to how we create our New York path to universal child care,” she said.
She also stressed that despite a good deal of the energy around the convention stemming from Mamdani’s campaign in New York City, any plan to chip away at the push for universal child care should provide proportionate funding for both New York City and upstate.
“I think if we can move forward with some great ideas in New York City, that’s amazing, but we equally have to have those same kinds of investments outside of New York City to do what works for us in other counties,” she said. “It’s just a different system outside of the city, so we have to make sure we’re getting the same share for child care outside of the city.”
As of Tuesday, sources say conversations around how child care will be handled in the governor’s executive budget were still ongoing.