Bill > S01092

This bill establishes the Early Learning Child Care Act to address child care affordability, accessibility, and quality for families with children under five years old. The legislation creates a new payroll tax on employers and self-employed individuals to fund a comprehensive child care program. The tax rates vary based on an employer's payroll expense, ranging from 0.11% to 0.34%. The bill establishes an Early Learning Child Care Fund and a new state Child Care Board to oversee the program. Key provisions include providing free or sliding-scale child care based on family income, offering financial assistance to child care providers, creating expansion and stabilization grants, and implementing professional development programs for child care workers. The program aims to support working families by making child care more affordable and accessible, with a focus on supporting low and middle-income families. The bill also creates a taskforce to study after-school programming and crisis care for children, and includes strict ethics and accountability measures for board members and staff involved in administering the program. The legislation is designed to comprehensively address the challenges facing child care in New York, including high costs, workforce shortages, and uneven access to quality care.

Budget and Finance

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S1092