I’m sure many of you don’t need me to say this, but child care in New York, specifically in rural areas, is broken and needs to be fixed. In fact, 64% of New Yorkers are in a child-care desert, which makes programs such as New York’s Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) invaluable.

CCAP is a program that helps qualifying families find and afford child care. Due to funding gaps, however, many counties throughout the state are forced to pause applications, leaving families in the dark. It’s apparent that in our current economy, everyone needs a full-time or part-time job to make ends meet. When the child-care gap happens, this not only impacts families, but also businesses and industry because of the lack of productivity.

Recently in Albany, I joined my good friend Assemblyman Matt Simpson (R,C-Adirondack) at a press conference to call for CCAP to be fully funded. We heard from stakeholders who are dealing with the reality of the broken child-care system and saw there are real-life consequences for Albany’s disastrous policies.

During that press conference, we called for a more stable funding structure for CCAP, as well as other policies that would make child care more affordable and support provider growth. Many of these policies are from our Assembly Republican Conference’s A Blueprint for Childcare (ABC) Plan.

These policies include providing tax relief for families and providers by expanding and enhancing tax credits to lower out-of-pocket child-care costs, increasing incentives to support child-care providers and exploring targeted tax relief options to reduce operating costs for providers. It would also improve the affordability and availability of care by promoting flexible child-care models, including non-traditional hours to better meet the needs of families, reducing regulatory barriers that limit the creation and expansion of child-care providers and supporting innovative solutions to increase provider capacity and parental choice.

I am proud to support these proposals because no family should have to make the choice between going to work to put food on the table or making sure their child is taken care of. As the representative of a rural district, I have seen firsthand just how broken our child-care system really is. It is abundantly clear something needs to be done, and while no single piece of legislation will fix things overnight, to not do anything is simply not an option. That is why I am calling on my colleagues to fully fund CCAP and pass the ABC Plan. I also urge the governor to sign these bills into law when they come to her desk. I will continue to work every day in Albany to make life more affordable for you, and child care is a part of it.

To read more about our plan, you can see our website: <a href="https://www.nygoppolicy.com/childcareplan." target=”_blank”><u>https://www.nygoppolicy.com/childcareplan</u></a>

As always, please feel free to reach out to my office at any time. I work for you and always want to hear any concerns you may have.

Assemblyman Angelino represents the 121st  Assembly District, which includes parts of Broome County, Delaware County, Madison County, Chenango County and Otsego County. Follow Assemblyman Angelino on Facebook.