ALBANY, NY (January 9, 2026) — Governor Kathy Hochul announced an unprecedented investment to advance affordable, universal child care for children under five across New York State, including a partnership with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to launch free child care for two-year-olds and achieve universal access to the city’s 3K program.
The announcement, part of the 2026 State of the State, commits to delivering affordable child care for nearly 100,000 additional children through statewide universal prekindergarten, the new 2-Care program in New York City, new community care pilots, and expanded child care subsidies. The proposal includes a $1.7 billion increased investment, bringing the total FY27 investment to $4.5 billion for child care and prekindergarten services statewide.
Hochul said the plan builds on more than $8 billion already invested in the state’s child care infrastructure since she took office.
“There’s one thing that every family in New York can agree on, the cost of childcare is simply too high,” Governor Hochul said. “As New York’s first mom Governor, fighting for New York’s families has always been at the core of my agenda. Since taking office, I’ve put families front and center, fighting to make our state more affordable and laying the groundwork to deliver universal childcare. Today, I’m proud to partner with Mayor Mamdani and leaders across our state to make this a reality, turning that foundation into a concrete roadmap that will transform the lives of working parents and kids across our state.”
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said, “Over the past 14 months, a movement was born to fight for a city where every New Yorker could afford a life of dignity and every family could afford to raise their kids. Today, Governor Hochul and I meet that movement as we celebrate our joint commitment to universal child care. This victory represents much more than a triumph of city and state government working in partnership — it is proof that when New Yorkers come together, we can transform the way the government serves working families.”
Key elements of the proposal include making pre-K truly universal statewide for all four-year-olds by the 2028-2029 school year, with additional funding to create new seats and increase reimbursement to the greater of $10,000 or the applicable school district’s current selected foundation aid per pupil.
In New York City, the state will partner with the mayor to launch the 2-Care program offering free child care for two-year-olds, with the state committing to fully fund the first two years of implementation. The program will initially focus on high-need areas and expand to serve all interested families by year four. The state will also work with the city to strengthen and ensure universal access to the existing 3K program.
The plan continues to expand child care subsidies through the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), with a $1.2 billion increased investment bringing total available funding to over $3 billion — more than 3.5 times the $832 million provided prior to Hochul taking office. The state has already more than doubled the number of children served by vouchers in four years, with an almost 25 percent increase in the past 12 months, supporting about 170,000 children, most of whom pay no more than $15 per week.
Other initiatives include launching pilot projects in counties outside New York City to support universal access to affordable, year-round, full-day care; creating a new Office of Child Care and Early Education to oversee implementation; expanding workforce scholarships and early childhood education programs at SUNY and CUNY; and expanding the child and dependent care tax credit to provide an additional average benefit of $575 for 230,000 tax filers.
Previous accomplishments highlighted in the announcement include more than doubling child care voucher funding to more than $8.6 billion, raising eligibility from 200 percent of the federal poverty level to 85 percent of statewide median income, capping family costs at $15 per week for most subsidy recipients, increasing provider reimbursement rates by nearly 50 percent, and supporting new child care seats through more than $150 million in capital funding.
This article was drafted with the aid of Grok, an AI tool by xAI, under the direction and editing of Robert Cox to ensure accuracy and adherence to journalistic standards.
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