New grades are out and, when it comes to tracking whether tax breaks are creating jobs, it’s a disappointing D+ for New Mexico. The grades were issued by the group Good Jobs First in their report “Money-Back Guarantees for Taxpayers: Clawbacks and Other Enforcement Safeguards in State Economic Development Subsidy Programs.” In the report, New Mexico is ranked 45^th in the nation, tying with two other states for that spot. Only three states ranked lower.

More New Mexico children have fallen into poverty as a result of the recession, according to the 2011 New Mexico KIDS COUNT report. The annual report, released today, is published by New Mexico Voices for Children. Even before the Great Recession, New Mexico had very poor national rankings in terms of the economic, health, and educational well-being of its children. The most recent data show the recession and the slow recovery have made things worse.

With the state’s vast network of universities, community colleges, and branch campuses—coupled with relatively low tuition and the lottery scholarship—a post-secondary education in New Mexico has been relatively inexpensive. But the recession and changes in the state budget have made college much less affordable. Moreover, tuition hikes have squeezed the state’s lottery scholarship fund.

Governor Martinez has said publicly that she won’t close a much-discussed corporate tax loophole because she does not want to “pick winners and losers.” But that’s exactly what would happen if her administration is successful in getting the Legislature to implement the single sales factor formula for determining corporate income taxes in New Mexico, according to a new report.

New Mexico Voices for Children has been awarded a Roadmaps to Health Community Grant of $200,000 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to improve the long-term health and well-being of New Mexico’s children. The grant funding supports New Mexico Voices for Children in its collaboration with the Invest in Kids Now! coalition and the New Mexico Community Data Collaborative network. The multi-level project has several long- and short-term goals.

—While the so-called super committee in our nation’s Capitol looks at slashing funding for the country’s two largest health care programs—Medicare and Medicaid—local advocates point out that the majority of New Mexico voters would disapprove of such a measure. The poll, which was conducted by Research and Polling, Inc., for six advocacy groups, shows that the vast majority of voters (83 percent) believe Medicaid is important to residents in New Mexico with 66 percent saying Medicaid is very important.

New Mexico’s public schools are having to do more with less money—5 percent less than they had last year. The drop in funding has led to a 5 percent decline in public education jobs. To exacerbate the issue, student enrollment has increased over the last three years. These are some of the main conclusions in a report, Funding Public Schools in New Mexico in the Great Recession, released through New Mexico Voices for Children’s Fiscal Policy Project.

Governor Martinez announced today that she will be restoring a portion of funding to early childhood programs that had previously been cut during the state’s budget deficit. Approximately 1,300 children will come off of the waiting list for child care assistance with this new funding (there are currently more than 6,000 children on the child care assistance waiting list). Governor Martinez also announced that the 4 percent cut that was imposed on child care providers last year will end on January 1, 2012.

Eric Griego is stepping down as Executive Director of the nonprofit research and advocacy organization New Mexico Voices for Children. The announcement came today from the organization’s Board Chair Anne Simpson, M.D. Griego recently announced that he is running for Congress in New Mexico’s first congressional district. “Eric has been an outstanding leader of New Mexico Voices, and an unwavering champion of our state’s children and families,” Dr. Simpson said.

Most states are having trouble adequately funding programs that help low-income parents pay for the child care they need in order to work. However, New Mexico was the only state to reduce its child care assistance reimbursement rate this year, according to a study released yesterday. The study, State Child Care Assistance Policies 2011: Reduced Support for Families in Challenging Times, concludes that New Mexico reimburses child care providers at approximately 40 percent below the market value.