The budget’s still not here… guess it’s not an April Fools’ joke!

Hi Ashley,   Today is our state budget’s due date, but there is no budget. The governor has sent a budget extender to the legislature to pass that to keep the state operating until Thursday. Our child care system is still in crisis. Click through to hear Marina's budget update. Thousands of children and families will not have child care assistance if the final budget doesn’t include a significant amount of funding. Yet, the Governor is pushing policy unrelated to the budget instead of addressing the dire needs of our working families and child care workforce.   To bring you the latest from the state Capitol, watch this urgent update from our Co-Executive Director, Marina Marcou-O’Malley on where things stand why we can’t afford to stop pushing.   Now it’s time for action. As New York’s first mom governor, we need her to hear loud and clear that child care and equitable school funding are non-negotiables for New Yorkers: Action 1 Child Care The Governor’s executive budget included no additional support for CCAP or a permanent Child Care Workforce Retention Grant, leaving families and workers looking at a more vulnerable year ahead. It’s clear - child care must be a top priority. Reach out to state leaders demanding their prioritization of child care in the final enacted budget Action 2 Foundation Aid While child care is our top priority as it is a crisis, getting Foundation Aid revisions right continues to be of the utmost importance. The Governor’s executive budget ignored the Rockefeller Institute’s recommendation to update the Regional Cost Index (RCI), which could effectively leave numerous high-need districts like New York City with less funding than they’d been bargaining on. In contrast, the Assembly and Senate have proposed raising the RCI. Join us and CEEF tomorrow from 5-6pm for a phone zap for Foundation Aid, to make sure our schools and students aren’t forgotten Action 3 Revenues The governor has been maintaining totally insufficient funding of our child care system and reluctant revising of the funding mechanism for our public schools, while adamantly refusing to implement any revenue raising options from the ultra-wealthy. Protecting billionaires before kids seems to be the governor’s preference. Use this social media toolkit from our friends at Citizen Action/IONY to remind Governor Hochul that it's time for the ultra-wealthy to pay their fair share AQENY.org | Bluesky | Instagram | Facebook DONATE

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