Invest in children, see the results
To educate policymakers and encourage them to enact public policies to improve the health and well–being of New Mexico's children and their families, as well as to oppose harmful public policies. These include policies regarding tax and budget issues, health care coverage, including Medicaid and CHIP (the federal Children's Health Insurance Program), and early childcare and education. Our New Mexico Children's Charter lists 20 specific outcomes that we—in coalition with various partners and allies—are working to achieve over the next several years.
Policy advocacy on the state level begins well before the annual legislative session. Creating and maintaining good working relationships with our congressional delegation, the governor and lt. governor, state senators, representatives, and other elected officials, and agency leadership and staff is a year–round job, with peaks of activity during the summer interim committee meetings and during the legislative sessions themselves. We always work in coalition with numerous other local, state and national organizations and allies.
Our advocacy work is evidence-based and shaped and informed by our research work, which is conducted through our Fiscal Policy Project.
Our specific legislative initiatives vary with each legislative session, but all are also shaped and informed by our four core values: human rights, healthy communities, economic justice, and civic participation. Click on the core value to read more about it and our corresponding policy priorities.
- Healthy Communities Affordable health care, quality education, and safe neighborhoods for all
- Economic
Justice Fair and responsible tax and budget policies; economic opportunity for all
- Human
Right Equality is not limited by one's race, ethnicity, gender, religion, disability, or sexual orientation; human dignity for all
- Civic Participation Our collective and individual voices matter
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New Mexico Voices for Children publishes numerous reports every year, including policy briefs and longer papers. Our most prolific policy "publication" is virtual—our once– or twice–weekly e-Voices. We use this electronic update to share new research and reports, list statewide events, and launch calls to action. That's where we let you know about important legislation and ask you to contact the appropriate elected official and urge them to either support or oppose it. Contact information is always included. Please sign up if you'd like to receive it.
New Mexico Voices for Children was founded as a policy advocacy organization in 1987. Over the years, our programs have played a greater or lesser role, but policy change has always been our underlying mission. Victories within this realm often take time—many years in fact—as political priorities and ideologies rise and fall like very slow tides. Policy advocates need to be patient, passionate and persistent. Over the years, though, our hard work with dedicated partnerships and policymakers have resulted in significant victories on behalf of New Mexico's children and working families. Some of those are:
- A statewide increase in the minimum wage.
- Increased funding for Medicaid coverage for children.
- Creation of the Working Families Tax Credit, which returns money to low–income working families.
- An increase in state low-income tax exemptions.
- Increased childcare assistance from 100 percent of the federal poverty level to 200 percent.
- Creation of and funding for a pre–K program for 4 year olds.
- An increase in unemployment insurance (UI) benefits for unemployed workers and their children, as well as UI rate cuts for businesses.
- Increased funding for adult basic education programs.
- Regulation of payday lending.
- Passage of the Child Helmet Safety Act.
- Passage of the Special Needs Adopted Child Tax Credit.
- Repeal of the Death Penalty.
- A statewide ban on cockfighting.
- Defeats of several Definition of Marriage Acts.
- Defeats of TABOR (spending limits) bills.
You can read more about our policy work—and how it benefits New Mexicans—in the report Strengthening Democracy, Increasing Opportunities, from the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP).
Generous donors like you. Please consider supporting our work!
Policy Director Bill Jordan, 505-244-9505, ext. 11
