From a Foundation Aid scare to a relentless drive for universal free school meals, this session kept the New York state Legislature's "Mom Squad" busy. It’s a group of lawmakers in the state Senate and Assembly who are mothers and advocate for family issues.

“We’ve sort of informally created this Mom Squad to be able to fight for the issues that parents care about in New York state,” said Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas.

For the squad, the state budget included some significant victories, including guaranteeing continuous Medicaid coverage for children up to 6 years of age.

“It really lifted a burden for families where their children were covered under Medicaid, or SCHIP, and when the federal emergency ended, we saw children fall off the rolls to the tune of 400,000,” she said.

Along with the passage of Sammy’s Law, reducing speed limits in New York City, the group celebrated a bipartisan sign of relief when Gov. Kathy Hochul’s initial budget proposal to end hold harmless didn't make the final enacted state budget, ensuring Foundation Aid funding for schools doesn’t decrease from last year. 

“We were able to make sure schools weren’t impacted by fluctuations in enrollment,” González-Rojas said.

That said, she told Spectrum News 1 some significant priorities didn’t make the cut.

Not so successful was an effort to guarantee free healthy school meals for all students. Last year, advocates managed to get the number up to 86%.

“Eighty-six percent is not 100% of school children,” she said. “This year, in the budget we were fighting to get to 100 percent, unfortunately, we didn’t get there.”

A driving force behind the Mom Squad is Assembly Member Sarah Clark. As a member of the Children and Families Committee, she is a staunch advocate for improving the state’s child care system.

“There’s a lot we can fix around child care to make it easier for families,” she said.

Clark said child care did not receive the spotlight in the budget that many had hoped, specifically efforts to make it easier for families to receive subsidies.

One bill would decouple child care assistance from a parent’s hours of work. She says it’s also critical to establish a permanent stream of workforce funding.

“We really need to do more to pay the workforce for the work that they are doing in the child care industry,” she said. “Otherwise, we’re going to see child care centers close, were going to see less options for children and families.”

Clark is optimistic that some of those things can still be accomplished in the last few weeks of this year’s legislative session.

Meanwhile, Republican Assembly Member Mary Beth Walsh signed on with a Mom Squad letter earlier this year, opposing ending hold harmless.

She said that while the conferences’ strategies may differ, a desire to solve the child care crisis is ultimately a goal that they share, with Republicans introducing their own package.

“Having to pay for child care can be every bit as expensive as your mortgage or car payment,” she said. “We came out with a package that increased tax incentives that would try to improve universal child care.”

Republican Assembly Member Jodi Giglio sees child care as a top concern for mothers.

"I think that’s a really important issue the state needs to tackle,” she said. “Universal pre-K is a great program that will allow kids to get an early education so they are better prepared for their future.”