As chair of the Senate Education Committee, I know that academic success doesn’t start on the first day of kindergarten, it begins years earlier, with access to safe, nurturing and consistent child care. These early years shape a child’s ability to learn, grow and thrive.

But every day, I hear from parents in my district who are at a breaking point. For many families, child care is one of their largest monthly bills, averaging as much as $16,000 per year for one child in full-time care. The cost of care has become an unbearable burden. And without help, it’s unsustainable.

Since 2023, New York has made historic progress in making child care more accessible for families. We expanded the Child Care Assistance Program, or CCAP, making tens of thousands of families newly eligible for support that nearly eliminates child care costs. The results have been life-changing. For a family of four with two children, child care costs that once........

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