$1.2B childcare expansion (state-funded)

Oct 5 2026 escalation: ACS begins rolling waitlist invites to 10,000+ low-income kids. State 1.2B + 475M vouchers. Fees eliminated via 5.2M. [2026-10-15] Hochul "Bad Apple" ad touts the $1.2B investment that launched 2,000 free seats for 2-year-olds this year with 10,000 more pledged next year. Delivery underway, scale still forward-looking.