Child care funding is one of the many issues still on the negotiation table after Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers failed to hit their April 1 budget deadline.

Legislators raised the alarm over a funding fight between City Hall and Hochul’s office that could jeopardize a voucher program used by tens of thousands of poor families in the five boroughs.

“We have an immediate concern now. New York City has come to us and said that they have a shortfall of a state-funded ‘CCAP’ program, which has become a shortfall because we’re growing!” State Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi, a Queens Democrat, said during a Wednesday rally in Albany.

Although child care affordability is a cornerstone of Hochul’s state budget proposal, future funding for a key program is in jeopardy.

“Imagine if child care was actually affordable, actually accessible in our state. We need to do a better job of child and infant care for all New Yorkers,” state Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, a Queens Democrat, said.

Nearly $1.8 billion is spent annually on a statewide child care voucher program for 130,000 New Yorkers — including $1.1 billion spent on 95,000 Big Apple kids.

But now, City Hall says it needs $900 million more to keep up with higher enrollment — or else, kids will get cut.

“Four thousand to seven thousand families can lose child care,” Queens Democratic Assemblywoman Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas said.

But right now, it’s not in Hochul’s spending plan.

State lawmakers sent a letter obtained by NY1 to Hochul and state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins on March 25 urging them to compromise with City Hall and include the funding.

“We were notified well into the budget process that this was going to be a problem in the city of New York, matter of fact it was right before the Assembly one house budget came out so we didn’t have time to adjust,” Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi, chairman of the state Assembly’s Committee on Children and Families, said.

Although Mayor Eric Adams did not bring up the program funding in his “Tin Cup Day” address, City Hall shared a memo with NY1 detailing talking points shared with Hochul and legislators.

“Since January alone, our administration has held more than 200 meetings with state lawmakers — alongside countless virtual calls — to advocate for our priorities in the state budget, including continued funding for ACS vouchers,” said Adams spokeswoman Allison Maser.

“We have also been in regular communication with the state’s Office of Children and Family Services about this funding cliff for the past two years,” she continued.

“Let’s be clear: from day one, the Adams administration has been committed to making early childhood education accessible and affordable,” Maser added.

Some lawmakers blame City Hall for not speaking out sooner. But Hevesi says he only heard about the problem a month before the April 1 deadline.

“If we had had more heads up, maybe the assembly, and the senate and the governor may have acted in their respective versions of the budget, but we didn’t have that opportunity,” he said.

As city lawmakers prepare their own June budget plan, Councilman Lincoln Restler says the millions in extra state funding makes a difference.

“We’re gonna need the state to step up, we’re gonna need the city to step up because we can’t afford to see 62,00 kids lose their child care vouchers. That’s more than the entire enrollment of UPK. That is more than the entire school systems of Boston, or Seattle or Atlanta,” Restler, a Brooklyn Democrat, said.

“Since taking office, Gov. Hochul has increased funding for child care subsidies in New York City by 124% while city spending has remained relatively flat. These increases in funding have advanced an agenda to make child care more accessible and affordable for families statewide, which includes increasing subsidies to providers and increasing the number of families eligible for child care assistance,” said Hochul spokeswoman Avery Cohen.

“With most of the families of the 130,00 children covered by CCAP now paying less than $15 per week in child care, we are committed to working with stakeholders to find a way to continue to support these vital programs and ensure as many families remain enrolled as possible,” Cohen added.

Others promised a resolution on the issue as well as other budget items.

“These are people who are city residents who we are here to advocate for so the fact that the mayor himself may or may not be compromised doesn’t take away from the fact that we are out here trying to do the best for the people,” Michael Gianaris, democratic state senate deputy majority leader from Queens, said.

Lawmakers are due back in Albany on Monday, April 7.