Top state officials made their case to lawmakers Monday for funding to help families, kids, people living with disabilities, veterans and the elderly in the next state budget.

Testimony was centered on the state's funding of human services that includes programs to improve the welfare of many New Yorkers, and care, housing and other assistance as the Senate and Assembly prepare their one-house budget proposals.

Democrats continue to push for an annual $5 billion publicly funded universal child care program, and peppered Suzanne Miles-Gustave, acting commissioner of the state Office of Children and Family Services, with questions about why the state fails to invest in such a system.

Miles-Gustave said it's a burden the state cannot bear alone.

"States can't just do that by themselves, we definitely need the federal support," she said Monday. "But we're doing a million things by ourselves, and we're doing what we can with the revenue that we have."

Several lawmakers used their time asking questions that criticized proposals in Gov. Kathy Hochul's budget, like $389 million for grants for child care programs, and expanding access for families they argue will not help amid the exodus of providers leaving the sector.

About 100,000 families are eligible for child care subsidies in New York to date, with about 66,000 receiving it every month, Miles-Gustave said.

The governor's spending plan commits investing $7.6 billion in child care over the next four years, which Hochul says will make hundreds of thousands of New York children eligible for care.

The state Child Care Availability Task Force was expanded last year to assess barriers and make a plan for the state to achieve universal child care over time.

The state Office of Children and Family Services continues to lean on the task force and is waiting for the final report due by the end of the year, Miles-Gustave said.

"One of their tasks is to look at the impact of a pandemic on the child care industry, including the workforce crisis," she added.

Many advocates and lawmakers continue to be vocal about committing funds in the next budget for child care assistance for undocumented immigrants. Miles-Gustave replied that federal regulations prevent the state from giving federal dollars for child care to those families.

The state could invest its own funds for child care assistance for undocumented families, but it was not a proposal in Hochul's executive budget or State of the State address.

The governor's budget includes $1 billion to fund the state's Master Plan for Aging to create new policies and bolster programs for the elderly to satisfy the executive order Hochul declared last fall.

About 25% of the state's population in more than 51 counties will be over the age of 60 by 2030, according to the mandate.

Several programs will help inform the Master Plan for Aging, including a pilot program to assess and report burnout among caregivers in multiple counties, said Greg Olsen, acting director for the State Office for the Aging.

"It's a leading cause of referral to higher levels of care for older adults," Olsen said during testimony. "NYSOFA is also currently conducting the state's first-ever statewide needs assessment survey. The results of this assessment will not only inform our federal plan that is due to the feds this summer, our county plans that we do later in the year, but also the Master Plan for Aging.

"...But the budget is much more than any one program or service," he added. "It must be examined holistically."