One thousand dollars.
That’s what Gov. Kathy Hochul wants to increase New York’s child tax credit to, for children up to the age of four.
But progressive lawmakers say the governor’s proposal is not enough. As part of their argument, they point to her own Child Poverty Reduction Advisory Council, which recommended the credit expand to $1,500 for children up to the age of 17.
“We’re just doing what her own policy advisors recommended,” said state Sen. Rachel May, D-Syracuse, speaking at a Monday rally in the Capitol building.
May and others are pressuring the governor to sign off on a more expansive allowance of up to $1,600 for all children under the Working Families Tax Credit bill. Hochul’s plan provides a $500 credit for children that are four to 16 years old.
The challenge to one of Hochul’s “affordability agenda” items, led by state Sen. Andrew Gounardes, D-Brooklyn, is seeing renewed support while cities like Rochester and Syracuse face some of the highest child poverty rates across the country, and about 1 in 5 children across the state experience poverty.
“We thank the governor for her proposal,” said state Sen. John Liu, D-Queens. “But it does not go far enough. We need the Working Families Tax Credit enacted and enacted now.”
A spokesperson for Hochul said she’ll consider the Working Families Tax Credit if it passes both in the Senate and the Assembly.
How the two child tax proposals differ
This is not the first time lawmakers have tackled the issue since the Empire State Child Credit first was enacted in 2006. That first year it provide up to $100 for each child except for those under the age of four, but the state expanded eligibility for the tax credit by up to $330 for that age bracket in 2023.
But figures show New York is still struggling to address child poverty: According to 2022 Census data, New York had the fourth-highest poverty rate in the country.
“The fact that we have kids who go to sleep hungry every night is a crime,” Gounardes said. “And it leads to one important truth: You should not have to be a millionaire to raise a family in the state of New York.”
Gounardes, Liu and other advocates say tripling the existing tax credit for the state’s youngest children, as Hochul has proposed, does not adequately alleviate financial strains for families.
“She’s actually co-opted our message about putting money into people’s pocket,” said Jasmine Gripper, who is the co-director of the New York State Working Families Party. “What she hasn’t quite fully adopted is the right policy to get us there.”
Gounardes’ office says his bill has other provisions that Hochul’s doesn’t: The Working Families Tax Credit is adjustable for inflation, will be dispersed in quarterly payments instead of a lump sum payment in the following tax year under the Empire State Child Credit. And his bill covers all children.
In all, Gounardes says the Working Families Tax Credit would have far-reaching impacts. His projections show that the credit would reduce deep or extreme poverty by nearly 25% and child poverty by 18%.
“That is a game changer,” Gounardes said. “That’s being able to provide kids with a future.”
The “best” proposal from Hochul’s affordability agenda?
The expansion of the child tax credit is one of several budget items Hochul presented in January as part of her “affordability agenda.”
“This budget is laser-focused on putting money back in New Yorkers’ pockets,” Hochul said when releasing her budget last month.
Other proposals include a tax break for middle-income families, universal school meals and an inflation rebate check of up to $500.
But some of those proposals have been met with skepticism and criticism from policy experts and lawmakers. The Fiscal Policy Institute urged lawmakers to reject the inflation rebate check, and State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli suggested the Legislature debate the matter.
Gripper said that neither the tax break nor the inflation rebate checks would do much to stave off the rising cost of living in the state.
“It’s not substantial,” she said of both proposals. “We don’t need one-off solutions.”
Hochul’s tax credit is her best proposal for families, Gripper said, but would be better if the state adopted the Working Families Tax Credit.
“We do believe it’s a step in the right direction," Gripper said of increasing the Empire State Child Credit, “but we need to do so much more.”
For cities like Rochester and Syracuse, the tax credit could make all the difference
The push for an expanded child tax comes as leaders from upstate New York cities have pleaded for more assistance in fighting poverty.
Albany, Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo have child poverty rates of 40% or more that are double the rate for that of other, similarly sized U.S. cities, according to a report from DiNapoli’s office.
All rank within the Top 10 for cities with highest rates of child poverty, the report reads. New York holds a similar ranking among states.
“I am proud to represent Syracuse, but I am not proud that Syracuse, for the last two years, has topped the list that no city wants to be on: that we have the highest child poverty rates in the entire country,” said state Sen. Rachel May, D-Syracuse. “It is wrong, it is cruel, and it is destroying the lives of children.”
