Fact Sheet In 2003, the Legislature gave big tax cuts for those with the highest incomes. This, along with tax cuts for corporations that were passed later, has made us too reliable on revenue from oil and gas. It’s also made our tax system less fair. This fact sheet explains.
Fact Sheet Thanks to large budget cuts over the past decade, college tuition in New Mexico has risen sharply. At the same time, the state's main source of financial aid -- the Lottery Scholarship -- has failed to keep up with rising costs and now covers less than half of average tuition costs. This fact sheet covers the top points from the companion report, Improving College Affordability. (A Working Poor Families publication)
Report States that graduate more college students and ensure that their workers have the skills needed for 21st century jobs have stronger and more competitive economies, higher wages, lower unemployment rates, and lower poverty rates. But New Mexico has not been focused on improving access to post-secondary credentials for lower-income students and older adults that would help lead to a more broadly shared prosperity. Rather, the state is ignoring long-term economic demands, choosing, instead, to continue to be a low-wage state with the highest long-term unemployment rate, have the highest poverty rate among the employed, and have the second worst student loan default rate in the nation. (A Working Poor Families report; state-level data on state-funded financial aid and some characteristics of college students)
Fact Sheet The Low Income Comprehensive Tax Rebate (LICTR) was enacted to make our tax system fairer but because it hasn’t been updated in 20 years, it no longer does the job. LICTR was last amended in 1998. Over the last two decades, the rebate has lost much of its value, because a dollar is worth much less today that it was back in 1998. Over the same time period, our tax system has only gotten more regressive – falling even harder on those with the lowest incomes.
Fact Sheet A companion to the report The Cliff Effect: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back, this sums up the report's basic message about how the sudden loss of benefits like child care assistance - called the cliff effect - can act as a disincentive for hard-working families trying to lift themselves out of poverty. Also includes policy recommendations for mitigating the cliff effect. (State-level data on the child care assistance program)
NM KIDS COUNT Data Book After ten years of austerity, New Mexico has fallen to last in the nation in child well-being. The state also lost a lawsuit claiming that it is not meeting its constitutional obligation when it comes to public education. It's time to change course. This annual publication reports the latest data on child well-being in New Mexico to help us choose the path forward. (State-, county-, tribal-, and school district-level data on indicators of child well-being; data by race and ethnicity where available)
Report How can a $1 raise in pay throw families into poverty? When they are at the ceiling for child care assistance eligibility, a tiny raise can mean they go from paying 18 percent of their income on child care to 38 percent. Work supports like child care assistance should help families achieve economic stability. But the sudden loss of benefits - called the cliff effect - can have the opposite effect. (State-level data on the child care assistance program)
Fact Sheet A big tax break enacted in 2003 overwhelming goes to the highest-income earners – the people who are already paying the smallest share of their income in state and local taxes. It costs the state tens of millions of dollars a year and means that unearned income is taxed at a lower rate than money earned from wages. (State-level data on income levels, etc., of those that receive this tax deduction)
Fact Sheet New Mexico's annual budget has not kept up with inflation or population growth -- so we're expecting our schools, hospitals, first responders, and more to do what they've always done but with less money. This fact sheet looks at some of the ways the state could raise the revenue it needs to make the necessary investments while making our tax system more fair for hard-working families.
Report The Medicaid expansion, as part of the Affordable Care Act, has been very good for New Mexico. Not only are tens of thousands of New Mexicans able to access health care, the program has brought billions into the state that has created thousands of jobs, economic activity, and tax revenue. (State-level data on the number of jobs created, economic activity, and tax revenue as a result of the expansion)