Survey: Hispanic families, immigrants excluded from COVID-19 relief struggle in New Mexico
Las Cruces Sun-News--Nearly half reported that members of their families had seen reduced hours or pay cuts, with one in three parents or primary caregivers saying they were struggling to meet rent or mortgage payments. 36 percent of respondents who had lost work were not eligible for unemployment benefits.
Survey Says Latino Parents Fear Police Violence
Santa Fe Reporter--"New Mexico has a deep history with police brutality that culminated recently in the Department of Justice requiring the City of Albuquerque to reform the police force in the state's largest city, following a report that found a majority of police-involved shootings they investigated were unconstitutional."
BLM plans to sell almost 8K acres to oil and gas in October. Does New Mexico get fair share?
Carlsbad Current Argus--“The lease rates are based on current oil and gas prices, so clearly any leases sold soon will go at bargain-basement prices. As New Mexico receives a share of the lease revenue, which helps put books in our classrooms and medicines in our clinics and hospitals, we will not be getting full value for our shared state resources,” Jimenez said.
Taxing groceries would make New Mexico’s food insecurity problem worse
Fact Sheet Despite the state having high rates of food insecurity, some lawmakers still talk about bringing back the tax on groceries. This may become an especially easy target as lawmakers look to replace state revenue that has been wiped out due to the COVID-19 pandemic, economy downturn, and drop in oil prices. Here's why they shouldn't. (State-level data on child food insecurity, SNAP usage, and more.)
School budget cuts could be worse than thought, advocates say
NM Political Report--“It’s a reflection of the fact that despite what people say, that kids are our most precious asset, it’s not true in the way we invest our money in state and local government,” Jimenez said.
How the Federal COVID-19 Response Impacts New Mexico: Health Care
Fact Sheet (eighth in the series) Health care should be universally available in a global pandemic. While the U.S. still seems to be years away from joining the rest of the wealthy nations in guaranteeing this basic right, Congress did approve some financial assistance to states for their Medicaid programs. (State-level data on rates of uninsurance and Medicaid enrollment)