Public News Service--Critics of a bill approved Thursday by a House panel say it could subject families in New Mexico to a resurgence in predatory lending. The bill coming out of the House Financial Services Committee would repeal significant pieces of the Dodd-Frank Act. When housing and financial markets crashed in 2008, Wall Street reform and consumer protections were created to stop abusive practices by enhancing regulations on the financial services marketplace.

Santa Fe New Mexican--A proposal to raise the hourly minimum wage in New Mexico to $9 won the backing Monday of a Senate committee as well as business and labor groups. But with several bills floating around the Capitol this year to give at least a slight boost to the earnings of New Mexico’s lowest-paid workers, agreement still seems elusive on how high the state’s minimum wage should go and what strings should be attached.

Santa Fe New Mexican--Lawmakers took a step Wednesday toward raising New Mexico’s minimum wage. Members of the House Labor and Economic Development committee voted 6-5 along party lines to advance a bill sponsored by Rep. Miguel Garcia, D-Albuquerque, that would increase the state minimum wage to $10.10 an hour from $7.50 over the next three years. Tipped employees would have to be paid at least 40 percent of the minimum wage, a boost from the $2.13 per hour they’re now paid. And starting in 2021, the minimum wage would be adjusted annually based on the cost of living.

Albuquerque Journal--Democrats in the Roundhouse renewed their push Wednesday to boost New Mexico’s minimum wage — with the first of three competing proposals moving through a House committee. And two longtime opponents of an increased minimum — Gov. Susana Martinez and the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce — indicated they’re willing to consider a small increase this year, under certain circumstances.

SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, also called TANF, should be doing more to help families find a way out of poverty, according to “Turning Assistance Into Opportunity,” a just-released KIDS COUNT report from New Mexico Voices for Children. The TANF program provides financial assistance to eligible families with children for basic necessities. That cash assistance is tied to work or work-related activity requirements, the source of much of the criticism.

The gap between the rich and the poor continued to widen in New Mexico in 2015, with the top 5 percent of households earning an average of $254,096 and the bottom 20 percent making an average of $17,064, according to a new study. Income inequality is worse in New Mexico than in 38 other states, according to the report by the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington, D.C., which analyzed 2015 household income data.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Low-income families in New Mexico aren't getting the job training or child-care assistance they need in order to become self-sufficient, according to a new report from the advocacy group New Mexico Voices for Children. The report, called "Turning Assistance Into Opportunity," shows that a family of three only receives an average of $409 a month from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, also known as TANF, which is not enough to survive.

If you've suspected the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer, you might be on to something. New Mexico currently ranks 12th in the nation when it comes to income inequality. That number is according to a new report out by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Imagine what it’s like to be young and poor: Money is short, jobs are scarce, someone gets sick, and then the car breaks down. Of all the daily hassles you can imagine in this scenario, one that probably doesn’t come to mind is running short on diapers. Yet this is what often pushes families over the edge, says Emily Pepin, who counsels young mothers facing homelessness at Youth Shelters and Family Services in Santa Fe.