A Guide to Legislative Advocacy in New Mexico
Advocacy Guide Learn the ins and outs of working with your state legislators to promote a policy or cause that is important to you or your community.
Jul 10
2023
Jul 10
2023
A Guide to New Mexico’s State Budget
Budget Guide Explains how the state spends and allocates funding. The state budget is a reflection of what we value most and an illustration of the kind of communities we wish to create. The lawmakers we elect to represent us in Santa Fe create the annual budget that the state uses to provide services that benefit us collectively, like education and health care. (Link to the executive summary here)
Jul 05
2023
With end of public health emergency, thousands in danger of Medicaid disenrollment without action
NM Political Report--Divya Shiv, research and policy analyst for New Mexico Voices for Children, called the disenrollment “really scary.” She said that during the pandemic, when families were able to stay on Medicaid regardless of whether they recertified or provided documentation proving eligibility, many families experienced economic stability and were protected from the high cost of medical care.
Jun 17
2023
Why the State’s ranking shouldn’t get you down
Las Cruces Sun-News--The fact is, New Mexico has made some extraordinary headway in improving opportunities for kids in recent years. Some of it’s made nationwide headlines. Our investments in child care assistance, voter-approved expansion of early childhood services, and child-focused tax policy improvements all received national accolades.
Jun 15
2023
Report: New Mexico improving, but still ranks at bottom for child well being
NM Political Report--Wallin said New Mexico Voices for Children would like to see the state “continue to keep up its investments in kids and families.” “The key is we don’t stop now. We continue to look at the long view. We continue to find new areas,” she said, adding that one could be increasing child educator pay.
Jun 14
2023
Worst for child well-being: New Mexico 50th in annual Kids Count report
Albuquerque Journal--But Amber Wallin, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, said the state has launched new programs that may take time to show up in the annual report. The state, she said, dramatically expanded a child care assistance program in mid-2021 — the year much of the data is based on — and voters just last year authorized hefty increases in the funding available for early childhood education and K-12 schools.
Jun 14
2023
New Mexico again last in Kids Count report but state advocate sees progress
Santa Fe New Mexican--“The thing about the rankings is that they’re only one small part of the story about child well-being and about opportunity. … They don’t tell us about where we’ve been as a state, how far we’ve come or where we should be going,” Wallin said.
Jun 14
2023
New Mexico ranks as the worst state for child well-being
KOAT TV--The 2023 Kids County Data Book shows New Mexico ranks last in the nation for child well-being. New Mexico was ranked on 16 different indicators for the well-being of children. The report shows New Mexico ranks 49th in economic well-being, with 24% of children living in poverty.
Jun 14
2023
New Mexico 2023 KIDS COUNT Profile
State Data Sheet The national 2023 KIDS COUNT Data Book, released annually by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, assesses and ranks the 50 states on 16 indicators of child well-being, which are categorized into four domains – economic well-being, education, health, and family and community. Data for New Mexico show positive long-term changes.
Jun 14
2023
New Mexico Ranks 50th in Child Well-Being but Many Long-Term Trends Positive
“The data show that the state must keep pushing itself to create opportunities for all New Mexico kids to thrive, but we’ve also seen progress in most indicators, and many recent family-focused state policy changes give us strong reasons to expect that we’ll continue to see improvements in the future,” said Amber Wallin, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, which runs the state’s KIDS COUNT program.