Washington, D.C. — Today, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) announced a detailed plan to fund statewide universal child care for children as young as 2 years old.
In response, Casey Peeks, senior director for Early Childhood Policy at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement:
Today, Gov. Hochul and Mayor Mamdani unveiled a bold solution to expanding affordable, accessible, accountable child care infrastructure in New York, and other states should take note. This partnership of state and local leaders represents a real move to fill the gaps in services that the Trump administration seems dead set on widening, as evidenced by its recent attacks on child care assistance funding.
Hochul and Mamdani’s strategy demonstrates an understanding that a person’s earliest years are a unique developmental opportunity to promote lifelong success: something worthy of robust public investment. And given that New York loses billions in earnings, revenue, and productivity due to the nation’s infant-toddler child care crisis, this plan isn’t just smart education policy—it’s smart economic policy.
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Mishka Espey at [email protected].