FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 12, 2014

Assembly One-House Budget Makes Affordable, High-Quality Child Care Possible for New York's Working Families


In a continued to effort to put New York's families first, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Children and Families Committee Chair Donna Lupardo today announced that as part of a four year, $400 million overall investment, the Assembly's 2014-15 state budget agreement would include a $106 million commitment to fund child care subsidies and quality improvement measures.

"With the funding provided in today's budget plan, the Assembly has moved one step closer to ensuring that working parents never again have to choose between high-quality care for their children and affording rent, food and the other everyday necessities needed to keep a family afloat," Speaker Silver said. "The investments our plan makes in funding affordable, reliable child care services simultaneously ensures a brighter future for our children, keeps parents that need to work in the workforce and provides peace of mind for families that are struggling to make ends meet."

"When we invest in children, families thrive, businesses succeed and our economy grows," Assemblywoman Lupardo said. "The measures we have included in our one-house budget would increase access to critical child care programs and services and help put affordable child care within the reach of families across New York."

The initiatives included in this year's one-house budget were developed out of several months of extensive research, roundtables and discussions that the Assembly's Child Care Workgroup convened with parents, child care professionals and advocates.

The Child Care Workgroup included Assemblymembers Catherine Nolan, Chair of the Education Committee; Carl Heastie, Chair of the Labor Committee; Michele Titus, Chair of the Social Services Committee; Aileen Gunther, Chair of the Mental Health Committee; Donna Lupardo, Chair of the Children and Families Committee; and Addie Russell, Chair of the Commission on Rural Resources.

The 2014-15 Assembly budget proposal's $106 million investment in child care includes funding that: