Hochul Raises Tax Hike Specter To Pay for Mamdani’s Universal Daycare for Two-Year-Olds

Governor Hochul is raising the prospect of a tax hike to pay for an expansion of Mayor Mamdani’s childcare scheme for two-year-olds.Standing next to the mayor on Monday, Ms. Hochul said if she wins next month’s election for New York governor, she will find the money to expand free childcare to reach the mayor’s vision to offer places to every child from six weeks to five years old. It is not clear how Ms. Hochul intends to pay for the expansion, whether through tax rises or budget cuts. “We’ll do whatever it takes, but I am committed to this program,” Ms. Hochul told reporters at a trampoline park in the Bronx. “We didn’t come this far to turn back now. We’re going all the way. ‘Universal’ means universal.” Ms. Hochul and Mr. Mamdani made their joint appearance to announce the expansion of free childcare for two-year-olds, or 2-K, to 12,000 starting next fall from 2,000 places offered this year. The program will now cover every school district in the Bronx and Staten Island. “Locking a massive new fixed cost into a budget whose deficit is already growing faster than inflation is irresponsible and short-sighted,” New York’s Republican candidate for comptroller, Joseph Hernandez, tells The New York Sun. “And Albany has not earned the benefit of the doubt. Before we ask taxpayers for billions more, every New Yorker should be asking if government should be in charge of our kids.”“Every parent in New York knows child care matters. Nobody disputes that. The question is how we pay for it and who it serves,” he said, echoing Mr. Blakeman’s proposal. “Instead of building another permanent government program, why not put the money directly back in the pockets of working families through a child care tax credit, and let parents choose the care that’s right for their kids?”Ms. Hochul’s Republican opponent in next month’s election, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, has dubbed the program a “handout,” one he would replace with tax credits. “New York ranks near dead LAST when it comes to affordability,” Mr. Blakeman said in a social media post earlier this year. “Kathy Hochul is taxing families out of their homes and jobs out of New York. Free handouts, or ‘free childcare for everyone’, is another ploy by Kathy Hochul — an empty promise that benefits a select few (including illegal migrants). That’s why I propose Childcare Tax Credits instead — it’s a practical and tangible solution for legitimate taxpayers.”Ms. Hochul has already spent $12 billion on early childhood education programs across the state and New York City has received $1.2 billion in state funding for free childcare programs this year.Meanwhile, Albany has announced projected budget deficits totalling $31.7 billion over the next three years, with this year’s budget alone ballooning to more than $277 billion.The additional 2-K spots cover 22 of the city’s 32 school districts, and even more taxpayers’ money will be required to reach the mayor’s vision for “universal child care for children from six weeks to five years old.”However, the exact number of slots that will be available in each district is unclear. Those figures will depend on how many providers sign up to participate in the program, as well as the Mamdani administration’s “anticipated sense of how many families might apply.” Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office of Child Care and Early Childhood Education Emmy Liss said.When the pilot launched last spring, the city received 5,700 applications for 2,000 available spots.New York’s Democrat leaders are advertising each taxpayer-funded daycare slot as a $26,000 annual savings to families within the five boroughs, where daycare costs can easily surpass $2,000 per month. This year’s expansion of New York’s free childcare was far from smooth. Daycare centers that signed up to work with the city from the start of the school year in September reported late and missing payments. Some providers reported having to take out high-interest personal loans to pay staff and cover other expenses.When asked about his administration’s poor oversight of the 2-K rollout and whether it was ready to drastically enlarge the program, the mayor said his office has been “strengthening infrastructure needed to create the expansion” including “payments, procurements, and contracts.”“One of the key things that we have been doing over the last weeks and months that is going to continue to be sustained over the next months is the hiring of additional staff to ensure that these processes are actually working at an expedited scale.”The mayor also took the opportunity to stump for the governor, celebrating her commitment to the long-term success of the program, one he said would not have materialized under Mr. Blakeman’s leadership.“I am standing here announcing the addition of free childcare for an additional 10,000 children across our city. Free childcare for two-year-olds across the entirety of the Bronx, the entirety of Staten Island, and if Bruce Blakeman was the governor, that would not be the case,” the mayor said, adding that the Nassau County Executive is, in his view, “running on a vision where he wants city government and the state government to do less.”Ms. Hochul has campaigned heavily on her close relationships with New York’s young socialist celebrity politicians including Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Mr. Mamdani.

Hochul Raises Tax Hike Specter To Pay for Mamdani’s Universal Daycare for Two-Year-Olds

Hochul Raises Tax Hike Specter To Pay for Mamdani’s Universal Daycare for Two-Year-Olds

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