New York
Child Care: New York’s Next Big-Ticket Budget Priority
![Child Care: New York’s Next Big-Ticket Budget Priority Child Care: New York’s Next Big-Ticket Budget Priority](https://newspub.live/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/00childcare1-facebookJumbo.jpg)
Whereas she was lieutenant governor, Kathy Hochul repeatedly warned of a kid care disaster in New York, the place rising prices had put 1000’s of suppliers out of enterprise and had left many households with few choices for care.
Ms. Hochul, now the state’s first feminine governor, moved shortly to handle the difficulty. In her first government funds proposal, she known as for the state to extend its spending to $1.4 billion on little one care, increasing subsidies, creating day care facilities at public universities and giving extra help for suppliers.
However the Democratic-led Legislature in New York stated that was not almost sufficient.
Lawmakers say the state ought to spend billions but in addition shortly widen eligibility for backed little one care — a transfer that they stated lays the groundwork for a a lot bolder imaginative and prescient.
“We’re clearly on a path to achieve a full, common system by which all persons are eligible for backed little one care,” stated Senator Jabari Brisport of Brooklyn, who helped craft the Senate plan. It known as for committing $2.2 billion to make little one care free instantly for all low-income households, and growing the variety of households who would obtain advantages every year.
The present threshold is 200 % of the federal poverty line of $27,750 for a household of 4; the Senate plan would permit households incomes as much as 5 occasions the poverty line to qualify for backed care by 2024, which might elevate the state’s dedication to greater than $4 billion.
The Meeting proposal is just barely much less formidable, calling for the state to spend $3 billion to subsidize look after households incomes as much as 4 occasions the federal restrict — or $111,000 for a household of 4 — inside three years. Ms. Hochul’s plan would attain households incomes as much as 3 times the federal restrict in that point.
With each the governor and Legislature decided to behave on the difficulty, New York appears poised to enact a big enlargement of state support for little one care in its upcoming funds, which is due April 1.
A handful of cities and states have superior plans designed to develop entry to little one care, however New York’s proposals are among the many most formidable. And with federal little one care funding stalled in President Biden’s Construct Again Higher laws, the resolutions have taken on a nationwide significance.
“These are historic proposals, there’s no different technique to put it,” stated Dede Hill, coverage director on the Schuyler Middle for Evaluation and Advocacy, a nonprofit public coverage institute. “New York can be shifting to a brand new imaginative and prescient, a brand new mind-set about little one care, and that may be actually exceptional.”
The subsequent steps will all rely upon negotiations among the many state’s prime leaders, as soon as known as the “three males in a room,” who management the funds. That is the primary yr by which two of them — the Senate majority chief, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and Ms. Hochul — are girls. The third is the Meeting speaker, Carl Heastie.
Underneath Ms. Stewart-Cousins and Mr. Heastie, the Legislature has shifted leftward, usually discovering itself to the left of Ms. Hochul’s predecessor, Andrew M. Cuomo.
Ms. Hochul, a centrist from western New York, might want to steadiness the Legislature’s political calls for together with her personal politics and actuality: She is looking for election for her first full time period as governor in November and also will face a contested main in June.
A part of that balancing act shall be aided by a surplus in state revenues due to an infusion of federal pandemic support and better-than-expected tax receipts — though that very same surplus may make it exhausting to carry the road with the Legislature, which has proposed important funds will increase.
Starved by a long time of disinvestment, New York’s little one care system was struggling earlier than the pandemic, with lengthy ready lists and excessive charges that made it inaccessible for a lot of dad and mom. Many day care facilities shut briefly when coronavirus hit, then by no means reopened.
A December 2021 report from the Workplace of Kids and Households discovered that 64 % of New Yorkers reside in “little one care deserts.” On the identical time, little one care employees — a overwhelming majority of whom are girls — battle to afford fundamentals.
“The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the truth that our little one care system is damaged,” stated Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages, a mom of three and one of many architects of the Meeting little one care proposal. “It was damaged earlier than the pandemic, and now it’s in disaster.”
Danyelle Luchey, a Buffalo mom of three, stated she is aware of that disaster all too nicely.
With two incomes and three kids, Ms. Luchey, 34, and her husband discover themselves in a spot acquainted to many households: not poor sufficient to qualify for state support, however not wealthy sufficient to pay out of pocket.
One in all her kids was nicely positioned at a supplier that provided decreased tuition, but it surely shut two years in the past in the course of the pandemic. After a number of months of protecting her kids dwelling, she discovered a brand new facility, but it surely, too, closed lower than a yr later.
Dropping it was a blow, Ms. Luchey stated, that pressured her to shuttle her kids amongst grandparents and keen pals. She has since discovered day look after her daughter, the youngest of her kids, and has switched to a part-time job to attenuate little one care prices. Nonetheless, she stated, the kid care invoice for her daughter exceeds her mortgage fee.
“What number of girls should make modifications, and are available out of the work drive as a result of little one care is so costly?” Ms. Luchey stated. “Do I work, do I keep dwelling? It’s a Catch-22.”
Underneath the Senate plan, Ms. Luchey and her household would obtain care at a reduced price. “It might make an enormous distinction,” she says.
A part of the rationale for the three-year phase-in interval, proponents say, is that there are usually not sufficient suppliers to fulfill the demand the brand new legislation would create.
Lawmakers hope that with coaching packages and drastically elevated reimbursement charges, the trade will start to get better and entice new labor. In addition they have concepts for the way to get cash on to these within the little one care sphere — with the Senate providing bonuses of $3,000 for little one care employees, and the Meeting giving suppliers $500 million in grants to maintain them in enterprise.
However even these lofty plans have limitations. Whereas the Senate plan does away with the work necessities that make it exhausting for unemployed and immigrant households to seek out care, these necessities stay within the Meeting model. And whereas the Meeting contains funding for after-school packages, the Senate plan cuts off help at age 5.
Senator Brisport views the Senate plan as a primary step. A former trainer, he envisions a system that appears one thing like public faculty — accessible to all, from minimal wage employees to billionaires.
He’s inspired by how far-reaching the proposals are and the way they’ve been obtained. Already, he says, he can see the proposal shift “from the realm of like, one thing fantastical, to one thing doable.”
In its funds, the Meeting proposes including $150 million in extra funding for prekindergarten packages, a lot of which might go towards areas neglected of earlier rounds of funding. The Senate pledged $250 million.
Earlier expansions of the pre-Ok system have pitted the industries towards each other in a contest for labor — wages are low within the little one care sector, whereas pre-Ok lecturers earn extra — however lawmakers are hopeful that that is the start of an built-in method.
“Kids are born studying. They be taught day by day,” stated Assemblywoman Amy Paulin of Westchester, who has championed pre-Ok. “We given two completely different names to early childhood training. And possibly it’s time we simply name it that.”
No matter plan emerges from funds negotiations, lawmakers are hopeful of help from Ms. Hochul, who has some private historical past with the difficulty: In 1988, when she was a younger mom, she was pressured to give up her personal job as an aide within the workplace of U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. She couldn’t discover little one care.
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New York
Senator Menendez’s Resignation Letter
![Senator Menendez’s Resignation Letter Senator Menendez’s Resignation Letter](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/07/23/doc-4ddf28bf-7055-4adb-bc76-b-promo/doc-4ddf28bf-7055-4adb-bc76-b-promo-facebookJumbo.png)
ROBERT MENENDEZ
NEW JERSEY
COMMITTEES:
BANKING, HOUSING, AND URBAN
AFFAIRS
FINANCE
FOREIGN RELATIONS
The Honorable Phil Murphy
Governor of New Jersey
Office of the Governor
Trenton, N.J. 08625
Dear Governor Murphy,
United States Senate
WASHINGTON, DC 20510-3005
July 23, 2024
528 SENATE HART OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON, DC 20510
(202) 224-4744
210 HUDSON STREET
HARBORSIDE 3, SUITE #1000
JERSEY CITY, NJ 07311
(973) 645-3030
208 WHITE HORSE PIKE
SUITE 18-19
BARRINGTON, NJ 08007
(856) 757-5353
This is to advise you that I will be resigning from my office as the United States Senator from
New Jersey, effective on the close of business on August 20, 2024.
This will give time for my staff to transition to other possibilities, transfer constituent files that
are pending, allow for an orderly process to choose an interim replacement, and for me to close
out my Senate affairs.
While I fully intend to appeal the jury’s verdict, all the way and including to the Supreme Court,
I do not want the Senate to be involved in a lengthy process that will detract from its important
work. Furthermore, I cannot preserve my rights upon a successful appeal, because factual matters
before the ethics committee are not privileged. This is evidenced by the Committee’s Staff
Director and Chief Counsel being called to testify at my trial.
I am proud of the many accomplishments I’ve had on behalf of New Jersey, such as leading the
federal effort for Superstorm Sandy recovery, preserving and funding Gateway and leading the
federal efforts to help save our hospitals, State and municipalities, as well as New Jersey families
through a once in a century COVID pandemic. These successes led you, Governor, to call me the
“Indispensable Senator.”
I thank the citizens of New Jersey for the extraordinary privilege of representing them in the
United States Senate.
Sincerely,
Pabet Menang.
Robert Menendez
United States Senator
New Jersey
cc: The Honorable Kamala Harris, President of the Senate
The Honorable Ann Berry, Secretary of the Senate
New York
How Well Do You Know Literary Brooklyn?
![How Well Do You Know Literary Brooklyn? How Well Do You Know Literary Brooklyn?](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/07/22/books/review/22Quiz-Brooklyn/22Quiz-Brooklyn-facebookJumbo.jpg)
A strong sense of place can deeply influence a story, and in some cases, the setting can even feel like a character itself. This week’s literary geography quiz celebrates Brooklyn and novels set around the bustling borough. To play, just make your selection in the multiple-choice list and the correct answer will be revealed. Links to the books will be listed at the end of the quiz if you’d like to do further reading.
New York
See How Your Subway Service May Suffer Without Congestion Pricing
![See How Your Subway Service May Suffer Without Congestion Pricing See How Your Subway Service May Suffer Without Congestion Pricing](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/07/10/multimedia/2024-06-28-subway-projects-index/2024-06-28-subway-projects-index-facebookJumbo-v4.png)
After Gov. Kathy Hochul halted New York City’s congestion pricing program last month, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority cut $16.5 billion worth of planned upgrades to the city’s vast transit network, mostly to account for the loss of funding that was tied to revenue from the toll.
Source: Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Notes: The chart shows the $28.5 billion in uncommitted funds in the M.T.A.’s 2020-24 capital program; an additional $27 billion had already been committed.
The impact of the congestion pricing suspension on the M.T.A.’s funds for capital projects
Projects were cut from each part of New York City’s transit system, which is the largest in North America and is used by millions of people every day. The projects included elevator and ramp installations that would make subway stations accessible for people with disabilities, structural repairs to aging infrastructure and upgrades to 1930s-era signals that regularly cause delays.
Here are some of the subway projects the authority says it has shelved:
The cuts announced by the M.T.A. — the state agency that runs the subway, bus and commuter rail lines — will also affect transit outside the subway system. The authority has postponed the purchase of more than 250 electric buses and charging infrastructure at bus depots, as well as upgrades to regional rails and a ramp reconstruction on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.
The $12 billion remaining in the M.T.A.’s capital funds will be spent on projects the authority considers the most urgent, like track replacements and repairs to power substations. It will also replace some of the “least reliable” subway and railway cars, the authority said in a report.
All told, there are 92 subway stations that will not get planned improvements, including 22 stations that will not get new elevators or ramps; 10 that will not get upgrades like structural repairs, platform replacements and new barriers between platforms and tracks; and 71 that will not get upgrades to their public announcement systems.
Below is a list of the subway stations where upgrades have been put on hold, based on what the M.T.A. has detailed so far:
Projects on hold at 41 stations in Brooklyn:
Union St R
- upgrade to public announcement system
4 Av-9 St R
- upgrade to public announcement system
36 St D N R
- upgrade to public announcement system
59 St N R
- upgrade to public announcement system
Bergen St F G
- upgrade to public announcement system
15 St-Prospect Park F G
- upgrade to public announcement system
Church Av F G
- upgrade to public announcement system
Avenue X F
- upgrade to public announcement system
Neptune Av F
- upgrade to public announcement system
- elevator or ramp installation
- platform or waiting area replacement
Jay St-MetroTech A C F
- upgrade to public announcement system
Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts A C G
- upgrade to public announcement system
- elevator or ramp installation
Franklin Av C
- upgrade to public announcement system
Nostrand Av A C
- upgrade to public announcement system
- elevator or ramp installation
Utica Av A C
- upgrade to public announcement system
Euclid Av A C
- upgrade to public announcement system
7 Av B Q
- upgrade to public announcement system
Kings Hwy B Q
- upgrade to public announcement system
Avenue U Q
- upgrade to public announcement system
Neck Rd Q
- upgrade to public announcement system
Sheepshead Bay B Q
- upgrade to public announcement system
Brighton Beach B Q
- upgrade to public announcement system
Ocean Pkwy Q
- upgrade to public announcement system
W 8 St-NY Aquarium F Q
- upgrade to public announcement system
Jefferson St L
- elevator or ramp installation
Nevins St 2 3 4 5
- platform or waiting area replacement
Crescent St J Z
- upgrade to public announcement system
Norwood Av J Z
- upgrade to public announcement system
Cleveland St J
- upgrade to public announcement system
Van Siclen Av J Z
- upgrade to public announcement system
Alabama Av J
- upgrade to public announcement system
Chauncey St J Z
- upgrade to public announcement system
Halsey St J
- upgrade to public announcement system
Gates Av J Z
- upgrade to public announcement system
Kosciuszko St J
- upgrade to public announcement system
Myrtle Av J M Z
- upgrade to public announcement system
Flushing Av J M
- upgrade to public announcement system
Lorimer St J M
- upgrade to public announcement system
Hewes St J M
- upgrade to public announcement system
Marcy Av J M Z
- upgrade to public announcement system
Kings Hwy N
- elevator or ramp installation
18 Av D
- elevator or ramp installation
Projects on hold at 9 stations in the Bronx:
Norwood-205 St D
- upgrade to public announcement system
Bedford Park Blvd B D
- upgrade to public announcement system
Kingsbridge Rd B D
- upgrade to public announcement system
Fordham Rd B D
- upgrade to public announcement system
Tremont Av B D
- upgrade to public announcement system
161 St-Yankee Stadium B D
- upgrade to public announcement system
Wakefield-241 St 2
- elevator or ramp installation
Brook Av 6
- elevator or ramp installation
- repairs for structural or aesthetic issues
3 Av-138 St 6
- elevator or ramp installation
- repairs for structural or aesthetic issues
Projects on hold at 27 stations in Manhattan:
Roosevelt Island F
- upgrade to public announcement system
Lexington Av/63 St F Q
- upgrade to public announcement system
47-50 Sts-Rockefeller Ctr B D F M
- upgrade to public announcement system
42 St-Bryant Pk B D F M
- upgrade to public announcement system
- elevator or ramp installation
34 St-Herald Sq B D F M
- upgrade to public announcement system
Broadway-Lafayette St B D F M
- upgrade to public announcement system
2 Av F
- upgrade to public announcement system
Delancey St-Essex St F
- upgrade to public announcement system
- elevator or ramp installation
East Broadway F
- upgrade to public announcement system
190 St A
- repairs for structural or aesthetic issues
145 St A C B D
- elevator or ramp installation
W 4 St-Wash Sq A C E
- upgrade to public announcement system
Canal St A C E
- upgrade to public announcement system
Chambers St A C
- upgrade to public announcement system
World Trade Center E
- upgrade to public announcement system
Lexington Av/59 St N R W
- elevator or ramp installation
168 St 1
- elevator or ramp installation
3 Av L
- new fencing between platform and track
5 Av 7
- elevator or ramp installation
Times Sq-42 St 7
- new fencing between platform and track
Delancey St-Essex St J M Z
- upgrade to public announcement system
- elevator or ramp installation
Canal St J Z
- upgrade to public announcement system
Chambers St J Z
- upgrade to public announcement system
- repairs for structural or aesthetic issues
Broad St J Z
- upgrade to public announcement system
110 St 6
- elevator or ramp installation
59 St 4 5 6
- elevator or ramp installation
7 Av B D E
- elevator or ramp installation
Projects on hold at 14 stations in Queens:
21 St-Queensbridge F
- upgrade to public announcement system
111 St J
- upgrade to public announcement system
75 St-Elderts Ln J Z
- upgrade to public announcement system
Ozone Park-Lefferts Blvd A
- upgrade to public announcement system
Jamaica Center-Parsons/Archer E J Z
- upgrade to public announcement system
Sutphin Blvd-Archer Av-JFK Airport E J Z
- new fencing between platform and track
Jamaica-Van Wyck E
- upgrade to public announcement system
Parsons Blvd F
- elevator or ramp installation
Sutphin Blvd F
- upgrade to public announcement system
Briarwood E F
- elevator or ramp installation
- repairs for structural or aesthetic issues
Howard Beach-JFK Airport A
- upgrade to public announcement system
Broad Channel A S
- upgrade to public announcement system
Far Rockaway-Mott Av A
- upgrade to public announcement system
Rockaway Park-Beach 116 St A S
- upgrade to public announcement system
Projects on hold at 1 station in Staten Island:
Clifton SIR
- elevator or ramp installation
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