Hi John,

The Governor is fighting to exclude some immigrant children from the state’s expansion of child care access. She’s making excuses, blaming federal rules that stipulate that federal dollars for child care can’t be spent on services for undocumented families.

But there’s a simple and obvious solution: New York State can establish its own fund, separate from any federal dollars, with its own guidelines for who is eligible — regardless of citizenship or immigration status. Our existing child care system is riddled with obstacles that impact all families. We must also eliminate work requirements, which will make child care subsidies more easily accessible by all, and help ensure that immigration status is no longer a barrier to the child care families need.

Throughout the pandemic, New York’s immigrant families, including many undocumented families, have been the bedrock of many essential workforces. Now, Governor Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Speaker Carl Heastie must support them by ensuring they do not face barriers to receiving the child care they need. We need $3 billion dollars for child care in the state budget to support ALL children and families, regardless of immigration status. 

Join us tonight at 4 PM as we collectively call constituents urging them to tell Governor Hochul that we need no less than $3 billion for child care in the state budget to support all families, regardless of immigration status.

Sign up for tonight's rapid response action now at the link below!

If you can't join us at 4 PM (and even if you can!) you can call Governor Hochul yourself now! Just click the button below to place your call, and then scroll down to view the script while you're connected.

You can also save the image of the script on your device for later, or to share with others.

I am a (parent/provider/community leader) calling to urge you to include at least $3 billion for child care in the final state budget.

Access to child care is an economic issue, as well as a health and education issues, affecting every community throughout New York State. Budgets are about priorities. With the system in crisis, we need $3 billion dollars for child care in the state budget to support ALL families, regardless of immigration status. 

As is always the case this time of year, there is a lot going on this week. In addition to the daily action above, we're going to be sharing some other ways you can engage — on social media, at in-person events or by amplifying some of the other budget issues being decided this week.

Help us amplify our message calling for #NYSUniversalChildCare using your personal social media accounts! You can find sample Tweets and posts, as well as graphics and videos, at the toolkit linked below. And remember to follow AQE and the hashtag to see what's happening in real time.

We will be adding content and updates to this toolkit throughout the week.

We’re cosponsoring a petition with the Education Council Consortium calling for changes in the state budget that would make NYC public schools more democratic and equitable. Send a letter now.

Watch for tomorrow's email with our next way to take action.