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tonight over the state budget. It still hasn't been voted on and now city officials are trying
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to push for more funding for a child care program. Okay, Fox 5's Morgan McKay live in studio now with
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the latest on where things stand right now. Morgan. Yes, even Natasha. So city officials
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today announcing that families looking to apply for child care vouchers could be put on a wait
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list and are asking state lawmakers who are supposed to be voting on the state budget this
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week to add in more funding for the program. Today, the state has essentially forced us to
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have to begin putting eligible applications on a waiting list. First-time applicants for the city's child care voucher program are going to be put on a waiting
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list starting this week as city and state officials argue over who is responsible for
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funding this program. First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro says that this is a state program
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so the state should be funding it in their budget. Please provide the funding when you
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adopt a final budget. But this last minute push by city officials comes a little late. The state
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budget was due more than a month ago and it was just last week that Governor Kathy Hochul announced
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a tentative budget deal. Although the budget still has not been voted on, Hochul says the process
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is over We done They be voting any moment Around 69 children are enrolled in this child care voucher program which provides low families a stipend for child care Hochul office is accusing
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the city of not paying its fair share for this program that has grown exponentially over the
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last five years, saying, quote, this status quo is unsustainable. And if we are serious about
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providing comprehensive, affordable child care for working families, then these costs must be a
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shared responsibility between the city and the state. State Senator John Liu says that Mayor
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Eric Adams and his team should have been advocating for this program for months. There may be a world
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where a billion dollars comes out of nowhere, but not on the world that we call planet Earth
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Unfortunately, some of my colleagues feel that this is another example of the city for a period
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of time not being run very smoothly. Adams did not mention the child care voucher program in his
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budget testimony before state lawmakers on Tin Cup Day, but city officials insist that they
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reached out dozens of times on this issue. You don't need a tin cup to ask the state to assume
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its own obligations. A state program funded by the state should be funded by the state
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Now, this is the latest state budget since 2010, so 15 years
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Wow. Wow. All right. Thanks, Morgan
