14 JULY 25, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Childcare expansion to infants in works
BY MARK HALLUM
MHALLUM@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@MARKUUSAN
While the city’s Universal
Pre-K program has made
early childhood learning
widely available to many residents,
Comptroller Scott Stringer and state
Senator Jessica Ramos looking to make
infant and toddler care accessible to
working families as well.
At a roundtable in Jackson Heights
on July 17, the two pols discussed
with residents the best methods for
deploying the program titled NYC
Under 3 based on their experiences
with nearly half of community districts
within the city meeting the defi nition
of childcare deserts, according to the
comptroller.
Sunnyside and Woodside are just
two mentioned a report from Stringer’s
offi ce where there are an estimated 10
times as many infants as there are
childcare spaces.
“The idea is for the funding to come
from what’s called gross receipts, or
a surcharge on the top fi ve percent of
big businesses in New York. So this is
a way to hold our biggest employers
accountable for the childcare that’s
needed, but its also a way to fully fund
this program,” Ramos said.
There is currently a mix of federal,
state and city subsidies and tax credits
available to families struggling to
aff ord healthcare.
According to Stringer, the fi ve-year
plan to establish a program would start
with an increase in payroll taxes for
City Comptroller Scott Stringer and state Senator Jessica Ramos. Photo: Mark Hallum/Ridgewood Times
companies. But the government would
also benefit from the income taxes
levied from the estimated 20,000 people
citywide who would take advantage of
the program in order to bring more pay
home.
“One of the ways of doing this is to
create a childcare program that would
allow struggling, working New Yorkers
the ability to get the childcare they need
so they can go back into the workforce
and to recognize that childcare 0 to
3 is actually very good for the child,”
Stringer said. “We estimate in our
offi ce that 20,000 people who are out of
the workforce would actually go back
into the workforce, mostly women,
who would generate $540 million in
additional income for their families and
they would pay millions and millions in
taxes based on their earnings.”
The tax hike from big business would
be dedicated to childcare start-ups
and expansions through grants with
a capital commitment of $650 million
over five years. A family’s direct
contribution to the program would
be on a sliding scale based on income
level.
According to Stringer, a signifi cant
amount of the funds would go toward
training childcare personnel to
consistency between workers.
The program would have a capacity
of around 84,000 children, making it
the largest in the country.
The bill to make the program active
has not yet been introduced, according
to Stringer.
WE ARE PROUD
TO BE SERVING
OVER 3 MILLION
PEOPLE IN PRINT,
DIGITALLY AND
THROUGH EVENTS
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