Dear Governor Hochul,
Over the last few years, it has become quite evident that there is a child care crisis in our state and across the country. Parents all over New York are struggling to find and afford quality child care. Our early care educators are not making living wages, and many are leaving the industry all together. The good news though, is that right now, you have the power to help ease the struggles that many parents are facing.
The NY legislature has passed three bills that would help support parents who need child care assistance:
- A.8878/S.8152: This bill, known as the decoupling bill, would decouple child care assistance coverage hours from a parent's work hours making access to child care easier for parents who work in the gig economy or in sectors with fluctuating schedules like restaurants. It would also allow parents to be able to have child care for other important life events like a doctor’s appointment, education, or school meetings.
- A.4099-A/S.4667-A: This bill, known as presumptive eligibility, would allow families to have quick access to child care assistance while waiting for application processing to be completed, so parents do not lose job opportunities and children experience more continuity of care.
- A.1303-A/S.4924-A: This bill would end the “minimum earnings” requirement, ending New York’s deeply unfair practice of denying child care assistance to parents whose earnings are on average less than minimum wage. Currently, parents who do not earn, on average, less than minimum wage, like small business owners and gig workers, are locked out of child care assistance because NYS requires eligible families to have minimum earnings.
Of course, these bills alone won’t fix the child care crisis in New York, but it is a step in the right direction – so many families have lost job opportunities due to the lack of child care access, and so many parents, mostly moms, are pushed out of the workforce due to lack of child care. Not signing these bills ultimately hurts our families, businesses, and communities. We hope we can count on you to support more families across New York to access the child care they desperately need.
By signing these bills, Governor Hochul, you are showing your unwavering commitment to helping families stay, live, raise children, and thrive in New York.
Thank you,