With New York’s April 1 budget deadline looming, state leaders appear to be coalescing around Gov. Kathy Hochul’s push for a full-day school cellphone ban, according to recent updates from Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
While final negotiations remain “tedious” due to looming federal funding uncertainties, lawmakers seem increasingly supportive of a bell-to-bell cellphone policy, marking a shift toward Hochul’s position. However, delays are expected to push the budget past the deadline, though not beyond mid-April.
Meanwhile, child care advocates and legislators rallied in Albany to demand greater funding for the struggling Child Care Assistance Program. With some counties already halting new applications, advocates say at least $500 million more is urgently needed — far above what’s currently proposed by the governor or Senate.
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