“While it’s always great to see improvement, we know that the COVID-19 pandemic has likely wiped these gains away for many New Mexicans. We know that the pandemic hasn’t hit every New Mexican in the same way.”
Santa Fe New Mexican--“We know that going into the pandemic, low-income children in our state and the children of color in our state were facing bigger challenges than many of their peers,” Wallin said. “What we see is that those challenges have been exacerbated, that COVID has really increased racial and ethnic disparities and disparities along income lines."
NM Political Report--But according to New Mexico Voices for Children, 51 percent of adults in households with children in New Mexico have lost employment since March. “We were really surprised to see how high that number is, but we know it points to a weakness that already exists,” she said.
Fact Sheet COVID-19 and the resulting recession have caused great hardship for many New Mexico children and their families. This fact sheet looks at some of the areas where children have been impacted, including their economic and food security, and education. (State-level data on various indicators of child well-being)
Santa Fe New Mexican--Instead, we should repeal the failed trickle-down tax breaks that were handed to the well-connected and big out-of-state corporations over the past two decades. Not only would this make us far less dependent on revenue from oil and gas, it would make our tax system more equitable for everyday working New Mexicans and more stable.
Albuquerque Journal--Nevertheless, New Mexico continues to improve in many of the indictors that measure child well-being, and Wallin credits the commitment of policy makers and “investments in programs to benefit kids and families.”
Santa Fe New Mexican--“The skeptics and the challengers are loud. But we have the facts and the families on our side,” Lujan Grisham said, calling for a renewed commitment to investing in “a system that continues its focus on children and families” during the 2021 legislative session.
Public News Services--"Being currently the lowest response state and a state with large numbers of undercounted population - including children, children of color, tribal communities - it's really imperative that we get that accurate count," he said. "We have enough time to do that."
Santa Fe New Mexican--During a talk Thursday night sponsored by Albuquerque-based New Mexico Voices for Children, Harris, a longtime New Mexico resident, said he wonders how far along the U.S. has come since 1968, when the group released its findings. He noted the civil, racial and political unrest in the nation this year in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a Black man killed during a May 25 arrest in Minneapolis.
Searchlight NM--In 2004, Lujan Grisham became health secretary for then-Gov. Bill Richardson. James Jimenez, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, remembers her well. He served as secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration before becoming Richardson’s chief of staff. “She was kind of a pain, but only in the sense that she was a terrific advocate and didn’t want to let go until she knew that she absolutely had to,” Jimenez said.