White Plains, NY – The “plan” to “save” the County’s child care subsidy program offered today by two Republican county legislators does not make any sense and grossly mischaracterizes a number of other important programs funded by the County, said Legislator Judy Myers (D-Larchmont), chair of the Westchester County Board of Legislators (BOL) Budget & Appropriations Committee (B&A).
The Republican “plan,” credited to Legislators Marcotte and Smith, proposes to transfer more than $1 million from more than a dozen extant programs—protecting children against abuse; summer activities for children from low-income families; award-winning entrepreneurial training for women transitioning off public assistance; nutritional aid to needy residents; training for community outreach volunteers; eviction counseling and housing disaster relief; legal help for low-income workers, mostly Hispanic, stiffed on their wages by contractors; enforcement to prevent human trafficking; preventing juvenile delinquency; supporting affordable housing; reducing pesticide use around the county; mentoring for troubled teems; domestic violence awareness; and geriatric care management in various communities—to fund the child care subsidies received by low-income residents, mostly working mothers.
“I am deeply disappointed that two of my colleagues on the Board of Legislators would put their names to a scheme that basically ‘robs Peter to pay Paul’ and would adversely affect so many Westchester residents,” said Myers. “We can handle funding for the child care subsidies, if necessary, in any number of ways without eliminating important safety net programs which, to be frank, are targeted for slashing by County Executive Astorino year after year.”
The two Republican legislators referred to the funding for the abovementioned safety net programs as “slush” and “pork,” despite the fact that the BOL approved the budgetary items for 2012—after listening to hours and hours of testimony from concerned residents and business owners about the importance of maintaining the programs at their present service levels.
The notion that the child care subsidy program was going to “run out of money as early as July 31,” as County Executive Astorino claimed on February 2, only four weeks into the 2012 budget year, was met with a great deal of surprise and skepticism by the Democratic members of the BOL. The projected expenses for DSS, as published in the adopted 2012 County Budget, reflect an $11 million surplus for DSS. Warned that more funds may be needed because of greatest participation in the programs, the BOL even increased the family share from 15% to 20%, which the DSS concurred was reasonable.
