Resources A budget impasse? A tax overhaul? Veto overrides? Many complex issues will be discussed and resolved in a very short amount of time during the special legislative session beginning May 24, 2017. We've gathered together and posted here numerous resources to help you makes sense of it all. (Various data from child well-being to tax incidence by income, and more.)
Fact Sheet After New Mexico expanded Medicaid to low-income adults under the Affordable Care Act, enrollment increased. The state also added jobs in the health and social assistance industries. Meanwhile, cost increases to the state have been minimal.
Presentation Looks at some possible funding sources for New Mexico's child abuse prevention programs, as well as presents the NM S.A.F.E. campaign as a good model for determining if legislation would protect future victims from violent crime. Presented at the UNM Health Sciences Center’s conference, Childhood Adversity: The Impact of Maltreatment—Definitions, Prevention and Intervention Strategies.
NM KIDS COUNT Data Book In the past year, New Mexico has seen some improvements in child well-being—especially regarding health. We’ve also seen troubling increases in other indicators over the short- and long-term. This annual report on child well-being presents data on indicators such as child and teen death rates, preschool enrollment, teen births, and more. (State-, county-, tribal-, and school-district-level data on indicators of child well-being)
Fact Sheet Reinstatement on the tax on food is likely to come up in the 2017 legislative session even though New Mexico has the second highest rate of children who don't always have enough to eat. This infographic looks at food insecurity in New Mexico and which other states in the nation tax food. (State-level data on food insecurity, SNAP usage)
Presentation Looks at how reinstating the tax on groceries would impact the health of New Mexico’s already-food-insecure families. Presented at the NM Public Health Association’s Health Policy Legislative Forum. (State- and county-level data on food insecurity; state-level data on economic security)
Presentation On the status of child well-being in New Mexico, with a focus on child abuse, looking at policies that have negatively impacted child well-being and policy solutions that would improve it. Presented to the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee. (State-level data on indicators of child well-being)
Presentation Looks are some of the reasons child hunger is so pervasive in New Mexico as well as policy solutions from our NM KIDS are COUNTing on Us campaign that would help. Presented at the Interfaith Hunger Coalition's Hunger 101 Workshop in Albuquerque. (State-level data on indicators of child well-being, food insecurity, and economic security)
Policy Agenda For the third straight year, New Mexico ranks 49th in the nation for child well-being. It will take a comprehensive and focused set of strategies, and the political and public will to make them a reality, to improve child well-being in New Mexico. This policy agenda, based on the metrics used to measure child well-being in the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s annual KIDS COUNT Data Book, offers one such approach.
Fact Sheet Every year, as we continue to give away much-needed revenue in the form of ineffective tax cuts, New Mexico must revisit this choice: do we protect tax cuts for corporations and the rich and continue to under-fund critical services like health care and education or do we raise new revenue and invest in the programs that make New Mexico’s people and economy strong and healthy?