AFSCME Child Care Provider Criticizes Policies Favoring Billionaires

Child Care Providers Challenge Policy Favoring Wealthy Over Families

As President Trump prepares for his State of the Union address, child care provider Armett Newman from New York, a member of CSEA/AFSCME Local 1000, is voicing concerns about the administration's policies. Newman, along with workers nationwide, aims to highlight the perceived imbalance where billionaires benefit at the expense of working families. Watch the event here.

"[On Tuesday night] the billionaires, the greedy billionaires, along with the anti-worker politicians, are going to talk about how awesome everything is when the reality of it is, everything is not okay," Newman stated, pointing to recent notifications from the Trump administration about potential child care funding cuts—a move she argues would have significant repercussions not only for families but also for service providers like herself.

Newman participated in a significant town hall event hosted by Families Over Billionaires in Washington, D.C., where she shared the impact of policies that she believes favor the wealthy. During the meeting, attended by members of Congress, workers presented personal stories to illustrate how these policies are straining family budgets while easing the financial burdens of the rich. Read more about the town hall here.

Managing a child care service for 18 children near Rochester, N.Y., Newman emphasized the importance of her work: "I provide quality care and the parents go to work knowing their children are well cared for," she said. She highlighted the necessity for parents to trust their children are in a safe environment while they contribute to the workforce.

The controversy arose when the White House attempted to withhold $10 billion in child care and family assistance funds from states including California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York. Newman warns that reduced funding could lead some parents to leave their jobs due to unaffordable child care costs, negatively impacting the economy.

"It's important to know that 90 percent of my parents rely on the child care subsidy, so if I were to lose one family, that would be devastating to my business that's been up and running for 16 years," she explained.

While a federal judge has temporarily halted the administration's plan to freeze these funds, Newman and others continue to advocate for the protection of family assistance programs. "It takes a village. And it's deeper than just providing child care services. We can't allow the child care cuts to happen. We have to continue to fight," Newman urged.