Supporting Working Families
It’s no secret: working families in New York are struggling to make ends meet.
Parents and their kids are being pushed out of New York thanks to spiraling child care and housing costs. Poverty is climbing across the state, and children are bearing the brunt. Nearly one in four New York City residents are struggling to afford basic necessities like housing and food.
With vital programs under threat from federal cuts, Senator Gounardes has supported New Yorkers by:
Voting to invest $2.4 billion in child care assistance to low-income families, laying the groundwork for universal child care.
Winning a historic expansion of the Empire State Child Credit to provide families up to $1,000 per child each year.
Passing legislation to make school meals free for every student, saving families $1,600 per child every year.
Making healthcare more affordable by expanding Medicaid to cover essentials like diabetes treatment and dental care, and reducing the cost of prescription medications.
Supporting a nation-leading birth allowance—the New York State BABY Benefit—that provides $1,800 to new parents receiving public assistance when they have a new baby.
Banning predatory surveillance pricing and data harvesting that leads to higher costs.
Enforcing transparency and accountability in the insurance industry to drive down rising rates.
But Andrew knows we need to be even bolder to support New York families. That’s why he’s proposing the Working Families Tax Credit.
When the federal government expanded the federal Child Tax Credit during the pandemic, they lifted millions of families out of poverty. But Washington dropped the ball and let the expansion expire, with dire results.
Andrew’s Working Families Tax Credit would fill in the gap. Here’s how it works:
The credit streamlines and fills gaps in current state tax credits by including 17-year-olds and families regardless of citizenship status. It also allows the lowest-income families to receive the biggest credit.
The credit raises the maximum credit to $1,600 per child, eliminates the cap on the number of eligible kids and pins the credit to inflation.
The credit is paid out quarterly, providing families with four regular payments per year instead of just one annual sum.
Andrew’s Working Families Tax Credit would be “the boldest state proposal” in nearly two decades, according to experts. And the impacts would be far-reaching: when families’ basic needs are met, their educational outcomes and employment opportunities grow, benefiting not only them but their communities, too.