Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Trump just complicated New York’s ambitious plans to expand child care subsidies
By
Jimmy Vielkind
Published Jan 7, 2026
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Jimmy Vielkind/Gothamist
By
Jimmy Vielkind
Published Jan 7, 2026
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
New York state officials denounced President Donald Trump's freeze of child care funding, a surprise move that clouds a state push to expand subsidies.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, said roughly $3 billion in funding to child care programs is at stake. The federal government provides around 75% of the state’s child care subsidies, according to the state comptroller’s office. The money is paid through reimbursements, so providers won’t immediately feel the pinch, Hochul said.
“We're looking at our litigation strategy,” she said. “These are kids in red counties and blue counties who are going to be left without child care.”
The federal Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday that it was freezing access to certain federal child care and family assistance funds due to concerns over fraud. Federal prosecutors in Minnesota alleged a half-dozen people created businesses that claimed COVID-related relief funding for services that were never provided.
A right-wing influencer alleged that day care centers in that state run by Somali immigrants were engaged in a similar scheme. The funding freeze affects Minnesota and four other states run by Democrats, including New York.
“Families who rely on child care and family assistance programs deserve confidence that these resources are used lawfully and for their intended purpose,” Deputy HHS Secretary Jim O’Neill said in a statement. “This action reflects our commitment to program integrity, fiscal responsibility and compliance with federal requirements.”
New York lawmakers say they are being inappropriately targeted. And the shot is landing as they kicked off a push to expand subsidized child care in the Empire State.
More than a dozen Democratic legislators rallied Wednesday with labor leaders and parent activists to call for an expansion of pre-kindergarten programs. Some speakers said they spent more than $50,000 a year to pay for child care for two children under age 5.
“You should not have to be a millionaire to raise a family in this state,” said state Sen. Andrew Gounardes, a Democrat from Brooklyn’s Bay Ridge neighborhood.
Sen. Jabari Brisport, a democratic socialist who represents parts of Central Brooklyn, concluded his remarks at the rally by blasting the Trump administration’s freeze.
“I can't leave without giving a big shame to the Trump administration,” Brisport said. “You do not come for New York's children. We're getting our money.”
He said the state should raise taxes on the wealthy to pay for an expansion of existing pre-kindergarten programs to eventually include 3-year-olds and 2-year-olds. Assemblymember Andrew Hevesi, a Democrat from Queens, said the state should also increase funding for an existing program that subsidizes child care for younger children.
Hochul has said she doesn’t want to raise income taxes, the biggest source of state revenue. Republicans said that the state budget — expected to top $250 billion when Hochul formally unveils it later this month — is already too big.
“New Yorkers are being asked to believe the contradiction that record spending will somehow make life more affordable,” said Assemblymember Ed Ra, a Republican from Nassau County. “It hasn’t, and it won’t.”
Gounardes said the federal funding freeze only complicates the situation.
“We are going to have to figure out revenue sources for the push for universal child care with or without the federal government support there,” he said. “I think now we just have a tougher job ahead of us.”
Tagged
Politics
child care
new york state
Jimmy Vielkind
Jimmy Vielkind covers how state government and politics affect people throughout New York. He has covered Albany since 2008, most recently as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal. Jimmy led a team of reporters that won a New York Press Club award for coverage of Andrew Cuomo’s downfall and was on a team that won a Gerald Loeb Award for coverage of Amazon’s HQ2 process. A native of the Capitol Region, Jimmy has two degrees in urban planning. His position is funded by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Reach Jimmy at [email protected].
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.
By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. ET
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
News
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .