The Governor on Tuesday released his Executive Budget, with proposals to reduce the deficit for the 2009-10 budget year.  We are pleased that the Governor is maintaining funding for Pre-K at the current level for the next two years. 

The Governor’s continued commitment to Pre-K programs should be applauded.  Unfortunately, essential early care and learning funding wasn’t as lucky.

Make YOUR voice heard and send the letter (below) to Governor Paterson about the proposed cuts:

Sample Letter for Campaign

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

On behalf of Winning Beginning NY, the statewide early care and learning coalition, I would like to first applaud you for maintaining funding for Pre-K at its current level for the next two years. Your continued commitment to this program will help thousands of young children succeed in school and in life.

Next, I wish to voice my concern over proposed budget cuts to home visiting and potential cuts to child care, which would negatively impact children and families. I hope you will address these concerns in your budget amendments.

In your Executive Budget, you proposed cutting the Healthy Families New York (HFNY) program by 25% and eliminating child welfare preventive spending dollars that partially fund the Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) and other home visiting programs. I believe that these proposed cuts will result in increased cases of child abuse. I urge you to restore child welfare preventive spending for home visiting and funding for HFNY in your budget amendments.

The Executive Budget also transfers TANF funding for child care ($356 million) to the Flexible Fund for Family Services. As you know, once in the Flex Fund money can be used by counties for a range of services, but is not earmarked for child care. I urge you to transfer this funding from the Flexible Fund to the child care block grant to prevent further erosion in child care funding and ensure that low-income working families have access to child care subsidies.

The Executive Budget's investment in Pre-K lends stability to the program. That same stability must be extended to child care, which the success of Pre-K is greatly dependent on. In tough economic times, working parents need to keep working. High-quality child care not only benefits children; it allows their parents to continue to make a living. However, 46,000 fewer children are served by subsidies than in 2003-04, with an additional 10,000 cuts anticipated this year due to a reduction in the federal block grant funding and the impact of market rate increases. I urge you to restore $30 million in lost child care subsidies.

In your budget amendments, please reconsider cutting funding for home visiting programs, remove child care funding from the Flex Fund, and restore child care subsidies. New York State's children and families will thank you.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
December 18, 2008