Hochul, side by side with Mamdani, announces plan to roll out universal child care

On Thursday, Gov. Kathy Hochul unveiled her plans for a pathway to universal child care, which starts with expanding universal pre-K statewide and enacting free child care for 2-year-olds  in New York City. Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who made universal child care a cornerstone of his campaign, joined the governor at the announcement in Brooklyn as the pair touted their unity on the issue. 

All told, Hochul proposed increasing child care funding by $1.7 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. The bulk of that money – $1.2 billion – would go toward increasing subsidies for low-cost child care assistance programs. That represents a dramatic increase compared to last year. The rest of the year’s proposed investments would go towards the much buzzier aspects of the plan.

Hochul has spoken frequently in the past several months about expanding child care in New York with a goal of eventually establishing a universal system. But she has tempered expectations when discussing costs, building out the necessary infrastructure and hiring child care workers. With that in mind, Hochul is taking a fairly conservative approach to the high-profile issue by first focusing on establishing universal statewide pre-K, which her office estimates will cost the state roughly $500 million over the next three years. Only the first year’s worth of investments are reflected in the $1.7 billion topline. Hochul plans to fund additional pre-K seats around the state, while also providing more money for existing seats with the goal of having a seat for every 4-year-old in the state by the 2028-2029 school year.

“I have a little bit different approach for upstate because they’re not as far ahead (as New York City) when it comes to 4-year-old and 2-year-old programs,” Hochul said. “We have some catch-up to do there, so I’m proud to lead that out. But it’s an equally ambitious approach.” The governor said that although the state has supposedly had a universal pre-K program for a decade, communities “are just not stepping up to do this.”

Working with Mamdani in New York City specifically, Hochul also announced her plan to help the city fix the holes in the existing 3-K program and launch a program to provide free child care for 2-year-olds, known as 2Care.The state would provide $73 million for the first year of rollout, which would begin with 2,000 2Care seats this fall in “high-need” areas of the city. Asked whether he had identified any of those areas yet, Mamdani said that his administration will have “sustained conversations” with parents and child care providers as they “map out the logistics” of the rollout. 

The second year would come with a $425 million commitment from the state for the city to add 10,000 more seats to the 2Care program. Rollout would continue for two more years after that until it is fully phased in to serve the estimated 55,000 2-year-olds expected to participate. “The beautiful thing about this is that every parent knows that we are going to be able to deliver this for every single child across New York City,” Mamdani said. “2Care will be a reality by the end of this first term.” The state is expected to provide additional funding for years three and four, but neither Hochul nor Mamdani could offer accompanying cost estimates.

Mamdani also told reporters that about $100 million of the $1.7 billion one-year investment proposal from Hochul will go towards fixing 3-K to ensure that the city has seats in neighborhoods “where demand has not been met.”

In addition to universal statewide pre-K and a new 2Care program in New York City, Hochul proposed pilot programs in counties around the state that are “also ready to launch child care in more expansive ways.” Details of what those pilot programs may specifically entail, along with costs, were not immediately clear on Thursday. Hochul told reporters that she would have more details about communities that will participate in “innovative new pilot projects” next week.

Despite their differences, child care has served as a unifying issue for Hochul and Mamdani. The joint Thursday announcement also comes as the Trump administration moves to freeze billions in federal child care dollars to New York that both leaders once again denounced while discussing their plans.

Child care advocates and Democratic lawmakers lauded the announcement. “What we’ve won today will change lives – and it’s just the beginning,” state Sen. Jabari Brisport said in a statement. A close ally of Mamdani, Brisport is a vocal supporter of universal child care and sponsors legislation meant to achieve it. He also made a splash earlier this week by becoming the first state legislator to endorse Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado’s primary challenge against Hochul. “We won’t let up until child care is free for all across the state and child care workers are paid fairly as educators,” Brisport said.

“Governor Hochul listened to parents – and today she led,” said Rebecca Bailin, executive director of New Yorkers United for Child Care. The group and others rallied in Albany on Wednesday to call on Hochul to make good on her universal child care promise. “Credit is also due to Mayor Mamdani, who made child care a central campaign issue and a must-have for the state,” Bailin added in a statement. 

But Republicans, wary of the hefty price tag at a time the state is already facing a projected budget heading into spending negotiations, have already offered criticism of Hochul’s plan. “As the Ranking Republican on the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, my job is to ask the questions that often get filtered out through Gov. Hochul’s rose-colored glasses,” Assembly Member Ed Ra said in a statement. “I have always supported New York’s families, and I understand the financial strain child care places on working parents. But behind every major decision coming out of Albany, whether you agree with it or not, comes a price tag that will have to be sorted out in the state budget.” Speaking to reporters, Hochul offered little insight into how the state plans to continue making these investments on an ongoing basis. “We're announcing our budget on the 20th of January, so you'll be able to see the sources of our revenues,” she said. “I will say this, that we have managed our finances quite well.”