NYC Council Committee on Education Vote on Child Care Legislation - June 30, 2026
NYC Council Committee on Education Vote on Child Care Legislation - June 30, 2026
The Committee on Education, chaired by Councilmember Eric Dinowitz, met to vote on two pieces of legislation related to child care and early childhood education. Both bills were considered and adopted unanimously.
Discussion Items
- Intro 15A (sponsored by Councilmember Sean Abreu): Would prohibit the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene from requiring a subsequent background check for child care workers if one was already completed, with exceptions for gaps in employment of more than 180 consecutive days, a provider request, or safety needs. The bill aims to reduce administrative burdens on providers.
- Intro 580A (sponsored by Councilmembers Jen Gutierrez and Kevin Riley): Would establish an Office of Child Care and Early Childhood Education to oversee planning and implementation of no-cost child care for city residents. The office would coordinate services, develop recommendations, consider costs and funding sources, and identify locations for new programs. Councilmember Gutierrez expressed strong support, dedicating the bill to advocates and providers, and stated her excitement for a future with universal child care in New York.
- Chair Dinowitz noted that the city budget includes significant investments in early childhood education and encouraged support for both bills.
Key Outcomes
- Both items were adopted unanimously by the committee with a vote of 13 in the affirmative, 0 in the negative, and 0 abstentions.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning and welcome to today's New York City Council vote for the Committee on Education. At this time, please silence all electronic devices and no one may approach a day as at any time. Chair Dinowitz, we are ready to begin. Good morning, everyone. I'm Councilmember Eric Dinowitz, a proud public school alum, teacher, and now chair of the committee on education, and welcome to today's vote. First, I'd like to acknowledge my colleagues that are here, Councilmembers Lewis, Shulman, Gutierrez, Furias. Brewer, Krishnan, Narcis, Wong, Zhuang, Joseph, Lee, and Delarosa. Today the Committee on Education will consider two pieces of legislation related to child care and early childhood education. Proposed introduction 15A, sponsored by Councilmember Sean Abreu, would prohibit the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene from acquiring a subsequent background check of an individual for the purposes of working in a center-based child care program if DUHMH has already completed a background check. Unless the individual has not been employed by a child care provider in the city for more than 180 consecutive days in the past five years. A child care program requests a background check, or a background check is otherwise required by law or necessary for the purposes of safety. This bill aims to correct um inefficiencies, inefficacies in the background check process and ease some of the administrative burden on child care providers. The committee will also be considering proposed introduction 580A sponsored by subcommittee on our early child education chair, council member, council members Jen Gutierrez, as well as Councilmember Kevin Riley. This bill would establish an office of child care and early childhood education to oversee the planning and implementation of child care for any child who resides in the city at no cost to a parent, stepparent, guardian, or relative of such child. The bill would require the office to coordinate the provision of child care in the city, including among other mandates, developing recommendations for implementation, considering costs and potential sources of funding for the expansion of child care, and supporting agencies in identifying potential locations for additional child care programs. I would like to turn it over to the bill's sponsor, Councilmember Gutierrez, for her remarks. Thank you, Chair. I will be so brief. I just want to take this time to thank the entire staff that helped put this together. All of my colleagues that very early on signed on, re-signed on, and then re-signed on again at the third reintroduction. And I just want to dedicate this to all the advocates, all the providers, all the majority women and women of color that have been saying that they have not felt seen or supported as child care providers, as early childhood education providers. I'm really thankful to the speaker and to this mayor, who both I think um have never shied away from their commitment to this, and I'm really excited to see how our city transforms when we have a legitimate universal child care system. I think this is a space where New York can lead, and I'm very excited about that future. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Councilmember. Today, what we'll soon be voting on a budget that significantly invests in New York City's early childhood education system. And as a committee, we have the opportunity to improve the functionality of that system and set up that investment for a greater chance of success. And I encourage my colleagues to support both of these pieces of legislation. And finally, I'd like to thank the committee staff, Alejandro, Carvajal, Chloe Rivera, Katie Selena, Grace Amato, and Andrew Lane Lawless, as well as my own staff, Theo Salter, and Jenna Klaus. We're ready to begin the vote. Thank you. Good morning, William Martin, committee clerk, roll call vote committee on education. Both items are coupled, Chair Dinowitz. Aye. Lewis. Aye on all. Congratulations to all the bill sponsors. Brewer. Yes. Della Rosa. Aye. Farias. Hi, but I would I. Congratulations to Councilmember Gutierrez. Gutierrez. Thank you so much. Aye. Joseph. Aye. Krishna.
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