Gov. Kathy Hochul’s move to spend a staggering $4.5 billion in taxpayer dough on childcare and pre-Ks is far too little to address Long Island’s “childcare desert,’’ according to a local Dem pol.
State Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages, who represents Nassau County, unveiled a proposal last week for additional spending to kick-start elite universal childcare and pre-K on Long Island before the state’s goal of 2028.
“Our ask is very simple — we want to increase UPK [universal pre-K] capacity on Long Island, increase funding, invest more than a million dollars to expand [the Long Island Regional Technical Assistance Center],” which is a key resource for school districts and local providers, Solages said.
“We also want to make sure that we have universality sooner than 2028, our 4-year-olds and our zero-to-3s can’t wait,” the assemblywoman said.
Education leaders and child-care advocates backed Solages as she called for the state to expand the program’s classroom capacity in areas where demand far outpaces space, commit to spending more than the state’s $10,000-per-pupil minimum, increase child-care subsidies for working families and invest $1 million to help open and sustain new pre-K classrooms as well as fund workforce training to keep schools properly staffed.
The push comes as Gov. Kathy Hochul has made expanded child care and universal pre-K a centerpiece of her 2026 executive budget, pledging roughly $4.5 billion statewide for child care and early education programs this year.
But Solages argued the state’s baseline funding isn’t enough in high-cost regions outside of New York City — such as Nassau and Suffolk counties — where she said inflation, staffing costs and classroom shortages have driven up expenses and left families on waitlists as enrollment has more than doubled since 2021.
“We appreciate [Gov. Kathy Hochul] is making a minimum of a $10,000 investment into universal childcare for every student — but in high cost areas like Long Island and the Hudson Valley — that money is spread thin,” Solages said, adding that the state’s promised funding “just meets the basics.
“We need to ensure that the conversation around childcare is just not limited to New York City, that we’re talking about all of the state in a statewide plan.”