The Philadelphia Citizen--Advocates say policies like those also help reduce family stress by alleviating parents’ need to scramble for care from family or friends while they are at work. “Families are not dealing with the chronic stress that comes from that uncertainty or financial instability; [it] really results in better health outcomes,” says Jacob Vigil, deputy policy director with New Mexico Voices for Children.
New American--“There was a concerted effort on behalf of advocates to make sure that all this additional funding that was coming from state sources would seamlessly continue the policies that the federal funds had initially paid for. So we've continued the eligibility up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level for subsidized child care, effectively making it universal access here,” said Jacob Vigil, deputy policy director of New Mexico Voices for Children, a nonpartisan, statewide advocacy organization.
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.
New Mexico, along with other states that saw a precipitous drop in children enrolled in Medicaid, should do whatever they can to quickly re-enroll those children – most of whom are likely still eligible for the free health insurance program – to prevent gaps in coverage. That was among the conclusions in a report released today by Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy Center for Children and Families (CCF).
NM Political Report--She said one area to consider for the future is guaranteed income and what that might look like in New Mexico. “It gives families dignity and the resources to decide where to put the money, in summer camps, home repairs, or food. They are the experts in their own lives,” she said.
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.
CT Mirror--Later in the day Thursday, Jacob Vigil of New Mexico Voices for Children, a child advocacy and economic policy group, testified before the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee about his state’s early childhood trust fund, which was established in 2020. The fund started with $300 million in seed money, and the state designated a portion of surplus oil and gas revenues to sustain the trust fund each year.
Connecticut Inside Investigator--“In New Mexico, we did something similar to what HB 5002 is looking to accomplish, and truly it’s been a game changer in our state,” said Jacob Vigil, the Deputy Policy Director of New Mexico Voices for Children, who spoke in support of the bill. Vigil said that New Mexico’s early childhood trust fund received an initial endowment of $300 million upon its founding in 2020, and is now sitting above $5 billion in 2024.
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.