State's unprecedented investment expands access to universal child care

ALBANY | Gov. Kathy Hochul has announced an unprecedented investment as the next step to deliver affordable, universal child care for children under five years of age across New York State. The Governor will partner with Mayor Zohran Mamdani to deliver free child care for two-year-olds in New York City, in addition to strengthening the existing 3-K program to achieve universal care and ultimately, serve all families across the city. In 2026, the State will continue to expand access to high-quality child care programs throughout the state through a diversity of models, saving New York families billions of dollars each year. Since taking office, Gov. Hochul has already taken major steps to expand access to affordable child care for families through an investment of more than $8 billion dollars in the State's child care infrastructure, dramatically expanding access, as part of laying the groundwork for the implementation of universal child care statewide. "There's one thing that every family in New York can agree on, the cost of childcare is simply too high," Gov. 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 roadmap that will transform the lives of working parents and kids across our state." New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said, "Over the past 14 months, a movement was born to fight for a city where every New Yorker could afford a life of dignity and every family could afford to raise their kids. Today, Governor Hochul and I meet that movement as we celebrate our joint commitment to universal child care. This victory represents much more than a triumph of city and state government working in partnership — it is proof that when New Yorkers come together, we can transform the way the government serves working families." Gov. Hochul's State of the State investments will commit to delivering affordable child care for nearly 100,000 more kids. Through this $1.7 billion increased investment, the total FY27 investment will be $4.5 billion for child care and prekindergarten services statewide. As part of Gov. Hochul's 2026 State of the State, this proposal will: Make pre-K truly universal statewide Partner with New York City to launch the new Mayor's signature 2-Care program and finally realize the promise of universal 3-K access in New York City Support other counties in building out new child care pilots that offer high-quality affordable care to families regardless of income Expand child care subsidies to tens of thousands of additional families Alongside these commitments, the Governor will launch an Office of Child Care and Early Education to steer the implementation of high-quality, universal child care for New York families. Thursday's announcement builds on steps the Governor has taken to expand access to affordable child care for families, laying the groundwork for the implementation of universal child care statewide. Specifically, the State has already: More than doubled the number of children served by child care vouchers in just four years, with an almost 25 percent increase in the past 12 months alone. Provided more than $8.6 billion for child care, including more than doubling funding for subsidies. Dramatically expanded the number of families who are eligible by increasing the maximum income from 200 percent of Federal poverty level (roughly $64,000 for a family of four) to the maximum allowed under federal law — 85 percent of Statewide median income (roughly $114,000 for a family of four). Made child care more affordable by reducing the amount those receiving subsidy pay by capping costs at $15 per week for most families. Increased reimbursement rates for providers by nearly 50 percent, helping providers retain staff and provide quality care for children across the state. Supported the future creation of thousands of child care seats and new centers through more than $150M in capital funding. ACHIEVING TRULY UNIVERSAL PRE-K While four-year-olds in some parts of New York have long had access to pre-K, there are dozens of school districts that have not yet been able to make it available. Gov. Hochul is providing additional support to ensure truly universal pre-K for all four-year-olds in the State by the start of the 2028-2029 school year. The State will not only fund additional seats to achieve universality but will also increase funding for existing seats, bringing them up to the greater of $10,000 or the applicable school district's current selected foundation aid per pupil, so that districts have what they need to provide high-quality pre-K. This combination reflects a commitment of roughly a half-billion dollars and will ensure that every child in New York State enters kindergarten ready to learn. LAUNCHING 2-CARE AND REACHING UNIVERSAL 3-K ACCESS NYC New York City has already launched universal pre-K and 3-K, and Gov. Hochul will partner with Mayor Zohran Mamdani to age this program down and launch an unprecedented initiative to offer entirely free child care for two-year-olds within New York City. The Governor is committing to fully fund the first two years of the city's implementation. As envisioned by the incoming mayoral administration, the first year of the program will focus on high-need areas selected by New York City and expand to serve all interested families across the city by year 4. In addition, the Governor will partner with the Mayor to strengthen and fix the city's 3-K program and ensure it achieves its promise of universal access. CONTINUING ACCESS TO LOW-COST, AFFORDABLE CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS Under Gov. Hochul's leadership, New York has more than doubled investment in the state's Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), which provides subsidies to help low-income families access child care. By dramatically increasing the State's investments in the program while expanding eligibility, the program now supports 2.5 times more children — an additional 100,000 — than when Gov. Hochul took office; the number of children served has increased by almost 25 percent in the past year alone. Most of the families of the 170,000 children served by the program pay no more than $15 a week for child care. This year, the Governor will continue to grow the State's investment in child care subsidies for those who need it most with a $1.2 billion increased investment, bringing the total available for subsidies to over $3 billion. This is more than 3.5 times more than the $832 million provided prior to the Governor taking office, and a nearly 40 percent increase from what was made available in the FY 2026 Enacted Budget. PILOTING INNOVATIVE COMMUNITY CARE MODELS ACROSS NEW YORK COUNTIES In 2026, Gov. Hochul will launch innovative new pilot projects for children in counties outside of New York City that are also ready to launch child care in more expansive ways in their communities. The Governor will launch a new New York State pilot, designed to support counties in working towards universal access to affordable, year-round, full-day care for thousands of families across these communities, regardless of income. Programs will be a joint collaboration between participating counties and New York State. OFFICE OF CHILD CARE AND EARLY EDUCATION A new Office of Child Care and Early Education will drive the implementation of high-quality, universal child care in New York State. The Office will oversee and support roll out of universal pre-K, continued investment in 3-K, launch of 2-Care and other innovative care options, expansion and improvement of vouchers, and ongoing support for the workforce. SUPPORTING THE WORKFORCE THROUGH EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION PREPARATION Gov. Hochul's plan to strengthen New York's early childhood education workforce includes expanding existing workforce scholarships, seeking opportunities for new Workforce Pell grants, and directing SUNY and CUNY to take a number of steps to expand and streamline early childhood education programs. EXPANDING THE CHILD AND DEPENDENT CARE CREDIT TO BETTER SUPPORT FAMILIES Gov. Hochul will expand and simplify the child and dependent care tax credit to provide an additional average benefit of $575 for 230,000 tax filers. She will also undertake a thorough review of existing tax incentives for employers with the goal of helping them better serve the child care needs of their employees.

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State's unprecedented investment expands access to universal child care

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