Hochul Gets Onboard With Mamdani’s Ambitious Child-Care Plan

When Kathy Hochul announced her endorsement of Zohran Mamdani for New York City mayor, the more moderate governor stressed that while she had distinct policy differences with him, the two had areas of common interest, including a desire to enact new child-care laws in the state.

On Thursday, they set their burgeoning relationship in action as Hochul revealed her administration’s plans to invest in the expansion of universal child care statewide, vowing to partner with Mamdani to fully fund the first two years of the city’s implementation of free child care for 2-year-olds.

Hochul and Mamdani were joined by child-care advocates and other local elected officials at the Flatbush YMCA, declaring a new beginning for New York families as they laid out a multiyear road map intended to expand universal child care throughout the state.

“I’m here to say the era of empty promises ends with the two of us right here, right now,” Hochul said, calling Mamdani an “extraordinary partner.”

The governor announced the state will commit to funding the first two years of 2-Care, a Mamdani-administration proposal that would ensure universal child care for 2-year-olds as part of the 2027 and 2028 budgets. The program is expected to begin with 2,000 children this year with a price tag of $75 million. Under the proposal, 2-Care will focus on “high-need areas” in the first year with the goal of expanding citywide by the fourth year.

Hochul said the state government would also invest $470 million to expand access to universal pre-K beyond the city with the goal of making it available for every 4-year-old in the state by 2028. The governor also promised an additional $1.2 billion toward the State Child Care Assistance Program, which provides vouchers for low-income families. In total, Hochul said her administration will invest $4.5 billion in child care.

“We’re in for the long haul because, for working parents, having access to affordable child care you can trust, it changes everything in your life,” she said.

While the proposed investments will go a long way to realizing Mamdani’s campaign platform of universal child care for all, the mayor had, as a candidate, initially advocated for free child care for any child from 6 weeks to 5 years old. The plan will be part of Hochul’s overall budget proposal, which will be subject to potential change following negotiations with the State Legislature in the coming weeks. But if it is successful, New York could join states like New Mexico, which began offering universal child care statewide at no cost and regardless of income late last year.

Mamdani made a point to emphasize that the planned expansions to child care will also apply to children living in the city’s shelter system and those with disabilities and that their efforts will build upon the existing 3K program which provides preschool for 3-year-olds. “This is a day that so many believed would never come, but it is a day that working people across our city have delivered through the sheer power of their hard work and their unwavering belief that a better future was indeed within their grasp,” he said.

The announcement marked the first significant collaboration between Mamdani and Hochul since his election. Their relationship will be key to the mayor’s ability to achieve many of his ambitious policy goals. Mamdani noted that the relationship between Albany and City Hall has often been “defined by dysfunction and discord” but made it clear that he views Hochul as a true partner.

Hochul recounted her own personal struggles balancing her work life with trying to afford child care when starting a family, saying she had been forced to leave her dream job as a staffer for Senator Daniel Moynihan to be a full-time mom. The governor said that conditions haven’t improved years later and that child-care costs in the state average between $26,000 and $40,000 a year, noting it is higher than tuition at the average SUNY or CUNY institution. “Whether you live in Flatbush or you live upstate in the Finger Lakes, this is something every family can agree on. The cost of child care is too damn high,” she said.