About Alex McCausland

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So far Alex McCausland has created 442 blog entries.
Feb 10 2021

How combining a just economic transition and strong climate action equals a safer, healthier and more equitable New Mexico

2021-02-17T14:24:49-07:00Blog Posts, Economic Security Blog, Health Blog, Tax and Budget Blog|

New Mexicans are already experiencing severe impacts of climate change – harming our health, air, land, water, and economy. The Climate Solutions Act (HB 9) would establish nation-leading carbon pollution reduction targets to benefit current and future generations while ensuring that all New Mexicans will benefit from the jobs and economic growth provided in a clean energy future.

Feb 08 2021

Juvenile fines and fees are bad for youth, families, and the state

2021-10-25T13:01:08-06:00Economic Security Publications, Publications, Racial and Ethnic Equity Publications, Tax and Budget Publications|

Fact Sheet Court fines and fees for juveniles are harmful to youth and their families, racially discriminatory, and costly to administer. They can quickly amount to hundreds of dollars, resulting in a significant financial burden for New Mexico families, taking from them some of the very resources they need to invest in their children’s future and purchase food, education, housing, and health insurance.

Feb 08 2021

Orphaned Wells and Inadequate Bonds: How the Oil and Gas Industry Could Soon Become a Financial Burden

2021-08-03T12:06:12-06:00Education Publications, Health Publications, Local Data, Publications, Tax and Budget Publications|

Policy Brief Overproduction, a global price war, and the COVID-19 pandemic have led many oil and gas companies in New Mexico and across the West to file for bankruptcy. This means orphaned wells – inactive wells that bankrupt companies have failed to plug – are left behind to pollute the state, which also has to pay the clean-up costs due to inadequate bonding requirements. At the same time, the pandemic has resulted in revenue shortfalls for our state budget. (State-level data on orphaned wells, estimated clean-up costs)

Feb 06 2021

Southern New Mexico counties lagging behind in child welfare

2023-02-14T15:02:27-07:00Economic Security News Coverage, Education News Coverage, Health News Coverage, Kids Count News Coverage, News Coverage, Racial and Ethnic Equity News Coverage|

Las Cruces Sun-News--“There's been policies over the years that unfortunately really haven't prioritized many communities and families of color in our state," Wallin said. "And Doña Ana County and Las Cruces have higher proportions of families that are families of color. We know that it's incredibly important to support our essential workers because we know that Doña Ana County has a higher proportion of essential workers as compared to the rest of the state and the rest of the nation.”

Feb 03 2021

Report: Pandemic derailing child well-being progress in New Mexico

2023-02-14T15:03:10-07:00Economic Security News Coverage, Education News Coverage, Health News Coverage, Kids Count News Coverage, News Coverage, Racial and Ethnic Equity News Coverage|

Santa Fe New Mexican--“We saw so many of the indicators of child well-being were really improving; then the pandemic hit,” said James Jimenez, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, during a virtual news conference Wednesday. “Next year, we’ll see the damage the pandemic did in a statistical way. I know we see it in new reports every single day of how families are struggling.”

Feb 03 2021

New Mexico child well-being had improved, but the pandemic brought setbacks

2024-04-01T16:23:02-06:00Economic Security News Coverage, Health News Coverage, Kids Count News Coverage, News Coverage, Racial and Ethnic Equity News Coverage|

Albuquerque Business First--"...We can show our determination and resiliency through reimagining our state's policies to repair the fault lines that have widened along racial lines, by gender and by income levels since the pandemic struck," the summary said.

Feb 03 2021

NM child well-being up before pandemic

2023-02-14T15:04:59-07:00Economic Security News Coverage, Education News Coverage, Health News Coverage, Kids Count News Coverage, News Coverage, Racial and Ethnic Equity News Coverage|

Albuquerque Journal--Jimenez said it’s also important for legislators to enact policies to get money “into the hands of families who will spend it quickly and locally. We believe that all the tax credits to business in the world will not make a difference if people do not have money to spend in those businesses,” he said.

Feb 03 2021

Report: Child Well-being was Improving Before Pandemic, Recession

2022-04-05T15:47:28-06:00Press Releases|

Gov. Lujan Grisham spoke at the press conference about some of her priorities for the current session. “We have a real opportunity to make a difference in the lives of our children this year,” she said. “Among them – we’re on track to greatly expand education and care programs for our youngest children through the Land Grant Permanent Fund and we’re enacting an equity-first budget for public education that will ensure resources are going where they’re most needed.”

Feb 03 2021

2020 New Mexico KIDS COUNT Data Book

2023-02-14T13:27:38-07:00Economic Security Publications, Education Publications, Health Publications, Kids Count Publications, Local Data, Publications, Racial and Ethnic Equity Publications|

NM KIDS COUNT Data Book Child well-being in New Mexico was improving. But then the COVID-19 pandemic and recession struck. This annual report provides data on numerous child well-being indicators housed under four domains (economic security, education, health, and family and community). While we don't know the full extent of the harm COVID-19 has caused our kids, some pandemic-specific data from the fall of 2020 are included. (Data on the state, county, tribal area, and school district levels on child well-being)

Feb 01 2021

Tobacco taxes support a healthy future for New Mexico

2021-10-25T13:02:24-06:00Economic Security Publications, Health Publications, Local Data, Publications, Racial and Ethnic Equity Publications, Tax and Budget Publications|

Fact Sheet Smoking kills more people than alcohol, AIDS, car crashes, illegal drugs, murders, and suicides combined. One evidence-based way to help youth and those earning low incomes to stop or reduce smoking is to increase tobacco taxes. It also raises some of the funding needed to cover the public health care costs. (State-level data on smoking, death rates, etc.)

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