Albuquerque Journal--“This is very sobering data,” Sanchez said. The findings, he said, show “tough times for everybody across New Mexico, particularly rural Hispanic residents.” The survey was sponsored by a host of groups advocating for worker or immigrant rights, including Somos Un Pueblo Unido, El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos and New Mexico Voices for Children.
NM Political Report--Wallin said the state’s recent investments in early childcare education are positive signs and she is hopeful that similar policies will continue in the future. She also said she believes New Mexico needs to continue to help families afford early childcare education. At the same time, she said that while early childcare is “really expensive for families,” early childcare workers are not “paid nearly enough for the work they’re doing” and some early childcare centers are “barely getting by.”
Albuquerque Journal--The programs that Wallin and Voices advocate for “depend on us passing good tax policy, and diversifying and raising revenue from a lot of different sources.” She noted that there is currently significant federal investment in the state, along with record setting revenue generated by the oil and gas industry. “But really, we need to diversify our economy and our revenues moving forward so that we always have the funding needed to support the programs that matter most for kids 20, 30 years into the future, when oil and gas is maybe not able to contribute the revenues that they do now,” she said.
The Board for Directors of New Mexico Voices for Children has hired Amber Wallin, MPA, as executive director of the child advocacy organization, effective Jan. 1, 2022. The group’s former executive director, James Jimenez, MPA, retired at the end of 2021.
Santa Fe New Mexican--When you file your tax return this winter, you may be in for a very nice surprise. Thanks to the leadership of state legislators and Governor Lujan Grisham, New Mexico enacted several improvements in two tax credits that help those New Mexicans who need it most.
Santa Fe New Mexican--While families in New Mexico face rising gasoline prices at the pump, oil and natural gas companies are getting the deal of a century. Not only are they cashing in on higher prices, but they pay pennies on the dollar to lease our public lands for development and evade having to pay New Mexicans what we’re rightfully owed in royalties. All of this undercuts funding for our schools, and our children deserve better.
Good Morning America--"Data shows these types of programs disproportionately benefit families that are headed by mothers, and that's really important right now because the data also shows that mothers have really disproportionately been harmed by the economic impacts of the pandemic," said Wallin.
Associated Press--Families in New Mexico, which has one of the country’s highest child poverty rates, spent nearly 46% of their child tax credit money on food, a study by Washington University in St. Louis’ Social Policy Institute found. “It says a lot about what families are worried about,” said Sharon Kayne, communications director for New Mexico Voices for Children. “This is hugely important to a lot of families.”
For too long, the antiqued federal oil and gas leasing program has allowed oil and gas companies to litter our public lands with orphaned wells while working New Mexicans are forced to foot the bill to clean them up. The reforms that DOI has put forth in its new report will protect taxpayers and protect our public lands.
KRWG FM--Of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants within the United States, around 60,000 reside in New Mexico. According to the nonprofit New Mexico Voices For Children, that group of 60,000 pays more than $67.7 million annually in state and local taxes.