Brisport skeptical of Hochul’s universal child care pledge

State Sen. Jabari Brisport has championed affordable and accessible child care for much of his career in the state Legislature. So you could be forgiven for expecting him to stand up and clap when Gov. Kathy Hochul championed universal child care during her State of the State address on Tuesday. Instead, Brisport had to be prodded by his colleagues to take to his feet. Why? Brisport told City & State it’s because he does not blindly trust Hochul to follow through and actually implement free and universal child care.

Hochul has proposed $100 million in construction grants for child care facilities, the creation of a substitute pool for child care providers and the creation of the New York Coalition for Child Care – which would unite businesses, unions, tax and revenue experts and child care providers to identify a path toward funding universal child care. “I want to partner with the legislature and put our state on a pathway to universal child care,” she said in her speech. According to Hochul’s accompanying State of the State policy book, the New York Coalition for Child Care is charged with creating a “responsible and sustainable” pathway to funding Universal Child Care. 

Notably, Hochul did not throw her support behind any of the existing bills that would implement universal child care – such as Brisport’s own bill, the Universal Child Care Act, which would provide free child care to New York families at an estimated cost of $5 billion. Hochul previously vetoed bills related to child care on the grounds that they cost too much.

That has Brisport worried about what exactly Hochul’s proposal for “a pathway to universal child care” will actually amount to. “I have concerns that she may redefine universal child care to be something that's not free and accessible to everyone, so that was what was running through my head,” Brisport said. “In addition to that, just the knowledge that we have had several bills to move New York towards universal child care, such as the decoupling bill and presumptive eligibility, and she vetoed one and then did a chapter amendment to weaken the other.”

The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

The Empire State Campaign for Child Care – a coalition of organizations that advocates for more sustainable and affordable child care – was cautiously optimistic about the governor’s plan for universal child care. The coalition has also backed Brisport’s bill, as well as other child care bills that Hochul has vetoed. In a statement, the coalition emphasized that any plan for universal child care needs to pay proper attention to the child care workforce. “As plans are rolled out for making child care accessible for every family, compensation for the child care workforce must be prioritized. We cannot improve access for families without fair compensation for the early childhood workforce," said Shoshana Hershkowitz, campaign manager for the Empire State Campaign for Child Care.

While Brisport described Hochul’s legislative collaboration process as “no dialogue and redundant,” he said he would welcome a surprise.

“It's frankly unclear why she positioned herself as starting this initiative as new or fresh,” Brisport said. “That being said, if we can get to actual universal child care where it's free and accessible to all children, I am happy to take all partners who are willing to get to that horizon.”