Hochul wants universal child care for New Yorkers | News, Sports, Jobs

Gov. Kathy Hochul announces an investment in the next step to deliver affordable, universal child care for children under five years of age across New York State.
(Photo courtesy Office of Governor Kathy Hochul — Susan Watts)

Gov. Kathy Hochul wants to make broad investments in child care and early childhood education, and this year will push to make sure that pre-k programs for 4-year-olds are available in every school district in the state.

Announcing the push in New York City alongside new mayor Zohran Mamdani, Hochul said she will partner with the young democratic socialist to expand the early childhood education programs offered in the city alongside a variety of efforts and investments in pre-k programs in the rest of the state as well.

“There’s one thing that every family in New York can agree on, the cost of childcare is simply too high,” Hochul said. “As New York’s first mom Governor, fighting for New York’s families has always been at the core of my agenda. Since taking office, I’ve put families front and center, fighting to make our state more affordable and laying the groundwork to deliver universal childcare. Today, I’m proud to partner with Mayor Mamdani and leaders across our state to make this a reality, turning that foundation into a concrete road map that will transform the lives of working parents and kids across our state.”

Hochul detailed a variety of programs and investments she’s looking to make: adding billions more to the Child Care Assistance Program that helps cover childcare costs for low-income families; launch a pilot program to work with county governments upstate to grow universal, year-round, all-day affordable child care; expand workforce development tools to get more people working in child care; and fund universal pre-k for four-year-olds for all upstate school districts.

Hochul’s plan will also fund pre-k programs more completely, providing either $10,000 per student or the school districts established per-pupil state aid value for all pre-k students.

In the city, Hochul said the state will partner with Mamdani’s administration to launch pre-k programs for two-year-olds, and expand access to the existing program for three-year-olds.

It’s another link in the long chain of efforts the Governor has undertaken to address child care and the cost of raising children, like expanding the number of people eligible for child care assistance, investing in child care subsidies, increasing the child tax credit, and investing in future child care center development.

But these efforts announced Wednesday didn’t come with a funding plan; it’s not evident how the Governor plans to fund these expensive undertakings. Andrew Rein, president of the Citizen’s Budget Commission, a nonpartisan group that advocates for fiscal responsibility, said there needs to be a concrete plan to fund these programs into the future.

“Ultimately, funding is a critical issue,” he said. “The state should fund this sustainably, within its existing budget plan, to ensure that New Yorkers in need have reliable access into the future. That means making smart, hard choices, shifting money from less-effective programs to deliver on this priority.”