ALBANY – State authorities are investigating an unlicensed day care created by Assembly Democrats inside the Legislative Office Building near the state Capitol.
“As the State oversight authority, OCFS will investigate a child care program after it is made aware of the alleged unlicensed or unregistered program,” a spokesman for the state Office of Children and Families told The Post on Friday.
Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) months ago approved the facility to accommodate legislative parents with free babysitting by two legislative staffers.
The space on the same floor near the Bronx powerbroker’s office suite was ironically used in the past for legislative ethics meetings and other purposes, according to the Albany Times Union, which revealed the covert facility on Thursday.
A rep justified the move to the upstate paper by claiming Heastie was empowered to offer benefits to rank-and-file lawmakers despite not going through the red tape other day cares must endure to open.
“This is a trial program. We continue to assess the needs of our members,” Heastie spokeswoman Kerri Biche told The Post on Friday.
“If the demand for services increases to more than a limited number of children and moves to a regular schedule, we will work with the state on licensing.”
But the Assembly has the process for dabbling in child care seemingly backward.
The new probe by the state will determine whether the Assembly is operating the service without a “required licenses or registration” — which Biche said the Assembly lacks — before possibly ordering the facility to shut down, the OCFS spokesman said.
A “formal cease-and-desist letter” would come if operations continue.
Biche did not immediately provide comment Friday evening on the nascent state probe.
Some lawmakers — who are the highest paid in the nation — have said they are happy with the free child care that has only been used by Democrats so far.
“Nobody ask how Mama Legislators do it and simply accept that we just do. We can’t do it alone. Thank you for the supportive community David and I have found in and out of the halls of Albany!” Assemblywoman Phara Souffrant Forrest (D-Brooklyn) tweeted after ignoring a question from The Post about whether she had used the unlicensed day care for her own young son.
But others say it is wrong for the Assembly to operate an unlicensed daycare considering legislation introduced by some members of the Democratic supermajority to crack down on unscrupulous operators.
“We’re talking about an unregistered daycare being run by untrained legislative staffers. A few Democrats even carry bills to crack down on unregistered child care facilities. It’s hypocritical,” Assemblyman Jarrett Gandolfo (R-Bayport), who has a 1-year-old son, told The Post on Friday.
“It’s a complete slap in the face to everyday families who struggle to pay for their own child care,” he added. “The average middle-class family doesn’t have access to a free, taxpayer-funded daycare option, so why should we?”