School meals, childcare and pre-K: Slater delivers for families

Dear Editor,

Matt Slater has earned another term in the New York State Assembly and I’ll tell you why.

Putting aside his success as Yorktown Town Supervisor, which I saw firsthand while working alongside him in Town Hall, Matt has done something in the state legislature few can say: succeeded.

Matt was an early sponsor of the free school meals program that has been phenomenal for our schools and families. This program is helping many children while saving parents hundreds of dollars a month each school year.

When Matt arrived to Albany, he knew childcare needed to be a focal point. He helped draft a full plan to improve access to childcare, enhance quality standards and worked with regional experts like Pattern for Progress, which proposed important reforms to make it easier to operate childcare facilities. One such proposal was a childcare substitute pool, which was adopted as part of the 2026 budget. Any parent dreads the call that their childcare fell through for the day because a teacher was sick, and Matt put forward a common sense solution that was adopted by New York State.

Lastly, as a parent, I know Matt is always fighting for my kids. Just this year he helped deliver additional state funding for universal pre-k, which has been a tremendous success by setting up our kids for early success while saving parents crushing childcare costs that amount to a second mortgage.

Assemblyman Matt Slater is a tremendous leader for young families in every community across New York State, and in typical Matt Slater fashion, he has actually found a way to make a difference. He has not only earned another term representing us, but we need him in Albany fighting for us, for our families and our community.

-Jenna Lennox Belcastro, Yorktown