Anti-poverty advocates this week are urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign legislation that is meant to address childhood poverty in New York. 

The bill, now on Hochul's desk, would create an advisory council that would be tasked with addressing the issue. 

Advocates, including the Albany-based Schuyler Center, appealed to Hochul to sign the measure into law in a letter sent last week. Supporters of the bill point to the effect the pandemic has had on low-income families over the last 20 months. 

"As New York mounts its recovery from the pandemic, this legislation will ensure that our children are centered in that recovery," the groups wrote in the letter. "Signing this legislation will signal to New York and the nation that your administration will prioritize the health and well-being of all New York children."

It's estimated nearly 3 million New Yorkers live in poverty, and 895,000 of those residents are children, according to the bill's sponsors. 

The measure if approved would have the council find ways of reducing childhood poverty, make recommendations and publish benchmarks, timelines and reports to ensrue it reaches a goal of reducing poverty among children by half in the next decade. 

"For our children experiencing poverty, every day that we fail to prioritize ending child poverty puts them more at risk for immediate and long-term hardship," the groups wrote in the letter. "The experience of poverty and trauma in childhood can have long-lasting impacts on development."