New Mexico is moving forward with a broad range of cuts in reimbursements to hospitals, physicians, dentists and other providers who serve Medicaid patients across the state. The cuts would take some $30 million in state money out of the insurance program that serves 761,000 New Mexicans, but that would be amplified with the loss of federal matching money...
The notion of all of New Mexico pulling together to help children is worthwhile. Now, there’s a state-run campaign to do that by raising awareness of how to prevent child abuse. The campaign has a catchy name — Pull Together. It’s an effort to bring attention to the dismal reality so many of the state’s children face every day. But let’s not confuse style with substance.
In a pep rally-type setting, complete with a jazz band and cheering students, the state’s new PullTogether program was unveiled Monday in the Performing Arts Center at Rio Rancho High School. In a separate and somewhat dueling news conference, Archbishop of Santa Fe John C. Wester said he wants state leaders to do more than “sing a jingle,” and to find new revenue sources to pay for programs such as state-assisted child care and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or food stamps.
Lawmakers and candidates met Wednesday with voters to discuss early childhood education, and ways they hope to improve New Mexico’s 49th-in-the-nation ranking for child well-being. The event featured three speakers, comments from the candidates and elected officials, and a brief question and answer session.
New Mexico schoolchildren are being shortchanged millions of dollars by oil and gas companies that vent or flare natural gas into the atmosphere, according to a new report. The study by the Western Values Project says a proposed Bureau of Land Management (BLM) regulation would require producers on public lands to pay royalties on that methane gas that otherwise escapes.
"Economic headlines for New Mexico have rarely been good in recent months. In November and December, the state led the nation in highest unemployment rate. In January, New Mexico improved, but only to 49th. Stories abound of people moving out of the state to states with better economic climate."
“You are about to make very serious decisions that will impact the health of the state and the economy of the state,” said Bill Jordan of New Mexico Voices for Children.
Veronica Garcia, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, expressed a view similar to Udall’s. She said the state Legislature should have taken a stand by freezing corporate tax cuts to help people who need it the most. “The already glacial pace of phasing in pre-K education has essentially been halted,” Garcia said.
Veronica García, executive director, New Mexico Voices for Children, also pointed to corporate tax breaks as a reason for the budget crisis. “This revenue free fall has hardly come out of the blue. We’ve been cutting taxes for well over a decade in the hopes that somehow jobs will materialize and we’ve created so many exceptions to our gross receipts tax that it’s got more holes than Swiss cheese.”
Many families already struggle to put food on the table, said Executive Director Veronica Garcia. “New Mexico has the highest rate of child poverty in the nation, the highest unemployment rate and the third-highest child food insecurity rate,” Garcia said in a statement. “Why would we do anything that could make child poverty and hunger worse?”