For the last several years, some state lawmakers have tried to stop storefront lenders by introducing legislation requiring a 36% cap on interest rates and fees. But the predatory lending lobby has always been able to stop these bills. This year, legislation to impose a 36% rate cap is gaining momentum.
Albuquerque Journal--New Mexico’s leaders have taken many actions to protect and support children and families through this uncertainty, including hunger relief funding, emergency economic relief for those left out of federal stimulus payments, a new paid-sick-leave policy, and an increase and expansion of the Working Families Tax Credit, which will put money in the hands of families who will spend it quickly and locally to provide for their children’s basic needs.
New Mexico In Depth--In this legislative session, New Mexico Voices for Children will be asking lawmakers to put families with children first in policymaking. High on the list of policies that will help ensure a just recovery and equitable opportunities for all families are enacting a state-level CTC, with families facing the biggest economic challenges seeing the biggest benefits.
Santa Fe New Mexican--When you file your tax return this winter, you may be in for a very nice surprise. Thanks to the leadership of state legislators and Governor Lujan Grisham, New Mexico enacted several improvements in two tax credits that help those New Mexicans who need it most.
Santa Fe New Mexican--While families in New Mexico face rising gasoline prices at the pump, oil and natural gas companies are getting the deal of a century. Not only are they cashing in on higher prices, but they pay pennies on the dollar to lease our public lands for development and evade having to pay New Mexicans what we’re rightfully owed in royalties. All of this undercuts funding for our schools, and our children deserve better.
Santa Fe New Mexican--In New Mexico, we have lived through many boom-and-bust cycles of the oil and gas industry. But recent years have shown just how much we need to break this cycle - particularly as we plan for the transition from oil and gas to clean energy - by tipping the scales away from the oil and gas corporations and back toward New Mexicans who have shouldered the consequences.
In homes across New Mexico, parents and caregivers have long been forced to make an impossible choice – one made even harder in the last 18 months by COVID-19. Do I care for my baby or sick family member, or do I leave them to work and earn the pay we need to survive? This choice has dire implications for babies, families, public health, and the economy.
The physical and economic health of our states depends on fair and responsible management of publicly owned resources -- everything from our school buildings to our state and national parks. But because of the broken federal oil and gas leasing system, our schools have received less-than-promised funding and discarded oil wells are polluting our cherished public lands.
The health of our communities depends not just on the health of its residents, but on the health and stewardship of its air, water, and land. As organizations dedicated to protecting the health of New Mexico’s children and families, we appreciate Governor Lujan Grisham’s focus on public health as a guiding principle in her administration’s approach to a range of issues. However, the work is far from done.
Las Cruces Sun-News--Incremental improvements show us both that progress is possible and also that creating the nurturing environments our kids deserve and need to thrive will require bold and sustained actions and investments.