Establishes a weekend child day care assistance program to provide for child day care at a child care provider for New York army and air national guard members on drill weekends.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9088
SPONSOR: Hunter TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the military law, in relation to establishing a weekend
child day care assistance program for New York army and air national
guard members
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the military law, in relation to establishing a weekend
child day care assistance program for New York army and air national
guard members
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To provide free childcare for New York National Guard members who are in
need of childcare during weekend drill.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 directs the division of military and naval affairs, in
conjunction with the office of children and family services, to develop
and implement a "weekend child day care assistance program" for the
families of National Guard members. The program would include an initial
registration process, as well as a monthly childcare reservation system.
The program will provide free hourly care during scheduled weekend drill
periods for up to 12 hours. An eligible child would need to be enrolled
in, the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS).
Payments will be made directly from the program to the childcare provid-
er.
Section 2 provides that this act shall take effect on the 90th day after
it becomes law, but allows for immediate development of rules and regu-
lations necessary to implement.
JUSTIFICATION:
In order to both retain and attract more New York Army and Air National
Guard members, NYS needs to address one of the many deterrents for
National Guard families- finding quality child care during weekend drill
period hours. Family dynamics may range from dual-military spouses to
single parent households or married households with a spouse who works
or goes to school on the weekend, but the dilemma of finding childcare
for weekend drill remains. With no on-base child care options, National
Guard members are sometimes forced to miss drill weekends all together,
or they attend but are worried about whether their childcare is adequate
or falling through.
If New York State wants dedicated soldiers who are trained and ready to
deploy, they must provide this free childcare. No-cost child care will
allow a soldier to be 100% focused on training because they know their
family is being taken care of.
While the National Guard Bureau on the federal level has tried to estab-
lish two pilot programs to provide weekend childcare (2022 and 2024),
neither one of them offered this benefit to New York. The first one
failed due to few weekend childcare providers, and a cumbersome regis-
tration process. Thus, this is the perfect opportunity for New York
State to step up and fill a need.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
None.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9088
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
September 12, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. HUNTER -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the military law, in relation to establishing a weekend
child day care assistance program for New York army and air national
guard members
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The military law is amended by adding a new section 257 to
2 read as follows:
3 § 257. Weekend child day care assistance program. 1. For the purposes
4 of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
5 (a) "New York national guard" means both the New York army national
6 guard established under section forty-one of this chapter, and the New
7 York air national guard established under section forty-two of this
8 chapter.
9 (b) "The program" means the weekend child day care assistance program
10 established pursuant to subdivision two of this section.
11 (c) "Dual-military family" means a two-parent family where both such
12 parents are enlisted as members of the New York national guard, or any
13 other federal military branch.
14 (d) "Child day care" shall have the same meaning as defined by section
15 three hundred ninety of the social services law.
16 (e) "Child care provider" means an entity operating as a child day
17 care center or family day care home under section three hundred ninety
18 of the social services law.
19 2. The division of military and naval affairs, in conjunction with the
20 office of children and family services, shall develop and implement a
21 "weekend child day care assistance program" to benefit members of the
22 New York national guard, including development of an initial registra-
23 tion process, and a monthly reservation process for New York national
24 guard members to reserve child day care with a child care provider.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10851-02-5
A. 9088 2
1 3. The program shall provide free hourly child day care, at a child
2 care provider that has opted to participate in the program, for New York
3 national guard members during scheduled weekend drill periods, for up to
4 twelve hours. Such child day care shall be reimbursable as provided in
5 this section. New York national guard members seeking to enroll in the
6 program shall make an initial application to the program, and once
7 assisted, shall reserve child day care under the program monthly at a
8 child care provider participating in the program.
9 4. All child day care costs shall be processed directly to the child
10 care provider and processed in accordance with the program policies,
11 dependent on submission of completed attendance sheets. No payments
12 shall be guaranteed until a final approval certificate has been sent to
13 both the New York national guard member enrolled in the program and
14 child care provider. It shall be the responsibility of both the New York
15 national guard member enrolled in the program and child care provider to
16 review all approvals for accuracy, and to report any inaccuracies as
17 soon as possible.
18 5. New York national guard members enrolled in the program shall:
19 (a) Be in good standing with their unit, which shall include, at a
20 minimum, having attended all required drills, completed assigned tasks,
21 and maintained compliance with uniform requirements;
22 (b) Prove that no other adult in such New York national guard member's
23 household is able to care for such member's child or children during the
24 scheduled drill weekend; and
25 (c) Either: (i) Be a single parent, or be part of a dual-military
26 family where such New York national guard member's spouse is participat-
27 ing in a drill during the same weekend, is deployed, or is attending
28 service-related classes or training on a drill weekend; or
29 (ii) Have enrolled their child or children in the Defense Enrollment
30 Eligibility Reporting System as dependents of such New York national
31 guard member, if such child or children are between the ages of six
32 weeks to twelve years old.
33 6. Child care providers participating in the program shall:
34 (a) Maintain compliance with section three hundred ninety of the
35 social services law;
36 (b) Submit to an advanced Federal Bureau of Investigation federal
37 fingerprint background check and federal Child Abuse Registry check
38 conducted and adjudicated by the department of social services for any
39 child day care employees, and for family day care homes, as such term is
40 defined by section three hundred ninety of the social services law, all
41 household members aged eighteen years and older;
42 (c) Maintain a child day care liability insurance policy coverage of
43 at least five hundred thousand dollars; and
44 (d) Maintain a certification in first aid and infant/child cardiopul-
45 monary resuscitation (CPR).
46 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
47 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
48 repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of
49 this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed
50 on or before such effective date.
