Santa Fe New Mexican--Jordan said his crowning achievements include the yearslong fight to draw more dollars from the state’s land grant permanent fund for early childhood programs and reforming New Mexico’s tax code to better serve children and families.
NM In Depth--Trip Jennings talks with longtime NM Voices for Children lobbyist Bill Jordan who retired last week after more than 30 years spent lobbying New Mexico lawmakers on a variety of issues. He and Trip talk about his experiences and together they try to demystify the Roundhouse for readers and viewers.
NM Political Report--Vigil said migrant workers make up a considerable portion of New Mexico’s workforce and, in addition to income taxes, they also pay gross receipts tax on most goods and services, excise taxes which are levied on items such as cigarettes, alcohol, betting, soda and amusement activities. They also pay property taxes either through home ownership or through rent when the property tax is passed along to the tenant.
NM Political Report--“We know that poverty is a policy choice, as evidenced by the millions of children nationwide who dropped back into poverty after the expiration of the temporarily expanded federal Child Tax Credit in 2022,” New Mexico Voices for Children Executive Director Gabrielle Uballez told NM Political Report via email Monday.
Santa Fe New Mexican--Our families deserve more than financial survival. We deserve to thrive. Next year, 2025, will be a powerful chapter of our story, 20 years in the future, in which we tell the story of how we made New Mexico the best place to be a kid. We did it by supporting the people who love them most: moms.
Santa Fe New Mexican--This Tax Day, we all have much to be thankful for as we consider the bounty of public goods and services that are made possible with our tax dollars. These include a school system, the roads, first responders, our parks, libraries, museums and so much more. This year, we have even more to be thankful for. That’s because in the last few years our state has made the most improvement in the nation in making our tax system more fair, equitable, and racially just.
KOB TV--“A really great provision of the child tax credit is that it is fully refundable. What that means is that, if you don’t owe any taxes, you will be able to get a check or a deposit in your bank account from the state for that refund amount,” said Paige Knight, the deputy policy director at New Mexico Voices for Children.
The Paper--New Mexico is a land with many valuable assets – from our rich cultural diversity to our stunning physical beauty, to our mineral wealth. These assets belong to us all and while it’s impossible to put a price on some of them – our culture and natural landscape, to be precise – we can and do put a price on our mineral wealth. And that price needs to be fair so that we are all receiving the benefit of the bounty beneath our feet.
Albuquerque Journal--The civil rights leader James Baldwin said, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” In other words, we can’t solve a problem if we refuse to look at it. Looking helps us know the extent of the problem. The column “An optimist’s guide to depressing data” takes the “New Mexico KIDS COUNT Data Book” to task for citing bad-news data about child well-being. We understand. We, too, find it demoralizing that New Mexico has the highest rate of child poverty in the nation.
NM Political Report--“They paid 40 percent less taxes just for making money on investments. We work for our money. They let their money work for them and they get a 40 percent discount on their taxes. It’s not fair and it doesn’t provide any economic benefit to the state,” Jordan said.