Hi John,

We're feeling cautiously optimistic for how the overall investment in child care is shaping up in the budget negotiations — but for one major problem: Governor Hochul is still fighting to exclude some immigrant children from being able to benefit from child care subsidies.

Immigrant families, including undocumented families, are an essential part of the fabric of New York's communities, economy, culture, history and future. We need to let EVERY member of the legislature know that the expansion in child care must include ALL New York's families, regardless of immigration status. Use the link below to email our State Representatives and Governor Hochul now.

We need $3 billion dollars for child care in the state budget to support ALL children and families, regardless of immigration status. ​Use the link below to email Governor Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Speaker Carl Heastie, as well as your local State Legislators, with a single click now!

And after you've sent your emails, share the link to the action page with 5 friends and ask them to take action, too.

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.

Tomorrow 3/31 in New York City: Join us at 12 PM for an emergency rally in front of Governor Kathy Hochul's office (633 3rd Avenue), as we demand not a penny less than $3 billion to put us on a path to universal child care, allowing ALL our families to go back to work, our providers and educators to be paid what they deserve, and our babies to be nurtured. If you would like to attend, please RSVP here.

Today 3/30 in Albany: Members of the Legislative Women’s Caucus and a broad coalition of advocates will rally to demand that New York’s enacted budget not come at the expense of women of color. They will be pushing back on many of Gov. Hochul's budget proposals, including bail reform rollbacks, limits on child care, home care and coverage for all. The rally is at 12 PM in the 4th Floor Senate Lobby, Capitol Building.

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.

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