For the 2026 legislative session, the New York State Cash Alliance is specifically calling on the New York State Assembly and Senate to reform our current tax credit system to increase its generosity and accessibility. This includes making last year’s Empire State Child Credit (ESCC) expansion permanent, as well as indexing the credit to inflation and raising the benefit amount to $1,500 per child. Furthermore, the legislature should pass the Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC). 

The WFTC (A.3474 Hevesi / S.2082 Gounardes) improves and expands the State’s refundable tax credit by combining the ESCC, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and the dependent exemption (DE) into one. This means that the lowest-income families in NYS could receive as much as $1,600 per child under this policy. We are proud to endorse the WFTC in this time of deep need that New Yorkers are experiencing. 

The WFTC is part of the NYS Cash Alliance’s larger platform, which also includes:

• Baby Bucks Allowance Bill (S.2132/A.1597), which provides direct cash assistance to income-eligible parents, for the last three months of pregnancy and first 18 months of a child's life. 

• Reentry Assistance Bill (A.6990 /S.6222), which increases the amount of money some receive coming home from incarceration

• Transition Age Youth Bill (S.7291), which establishes an unconditional cash assistance program for youth leaving foster care as young adults

• Child and Family Wellbeing Act Bill (A.63/S.6431),  which establishes a fund for communities to use to support the needs of children and families, including cash assistance. 

• Cash Assistance Reform Package, which includes bills to improve the state’s current cash assistance program, including increasing the benefit amount (A.106/S.1127), establishing parity for homeless recipients (A.108/S.113), and reducing barriers to accessing cash assistance (A.4352).