Kathy Hochul backs Zohran Mamdani's $6B universal childcare push, but funding plan remains unclear
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Governor Kathy Hochul has publicly thrown her support behind New York City's mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s push for universal child care, signaling that the policy could become a major plank of her 2026 agenda.
Hochul praised Mamdani and said the two leaders are aligned on affordability priorities. However, the governor stopped short of explaining how such a sweeping and costly program would be funded.
The proposal arrives as New York faces fiscal constraints and uncertainty around federal funding.
Kathy Hochul praises Zohran Mamdani's affordability goals
Hochul offered a favorable assessment of Mamdani during an appearance on Sunday, December 28, on 77 WABC’s 'Cats Roundtable', urging patience with the incoming mayor.
“I think he (Mamdani) is going to surprise a lot of people,” she said. “Everybody, let’s give him a chance.”
Hochul added that she has a “good relationship” with Mamdani, noting that President Trump also does, despite policy disagreements.
The governor said that she sees “an awful lot of alignment” between herself and the democratic socialist mayor-elect, particularly around reducing the cost of living in New York City.
She pointed to universal child care as a shared priority and framed it as both a family and economic issue.
“Affordability and driving down the cost of living in this great city,” Hochul said, describing the focus of her discussions with Mamdani.
Hochul also argued that publicly funded child care could benefit employers by easing stress on working parents.
“Employers in New York are really going to benefit when their own employees don’t have to stress on who’s taking care of their children,” she said, adding that the policy could give businesses “real competitive advantages.”
She said that she is “excited” about the concept.
Cost and funding cloud universal child care plan
While Hochul signaled support for universal child care, she did not outline how such a program would be financed or whether it would apply statewide or only within New York City.
Mamdani has proposed a $6 billion plan to provide “no-cost” child care for children aged six weeks to five years, to be funded through higher taxes on corporations and the top 1% of earners.
Hochul, however, has opposed raising income taxes, though she has not ruled out increasing other levies, including corporate taxes.
The governor is expected to provide more clarity during her 2026 State of the State address on June 13 or in subsequent budget proposals.
Any plan would likely need to be phased in over several years, given the scale of the program and current fiscal pressures.
Mamdani faces significant hurdles in securing state support, as New York contends with projected multibillion-dollar deficits and potential impacts from President Donald Trump’s federal funding cuts.
His transition team has signaled awareness of the challenges.
