Economic Security and Prosperity
The economy should work for everyone, not just a select few. But for New Mexicans who lack job skills and education, and work in low-wage jobs with little hope for advancement, economic security is just a dream. Long-term economic prosperity involves promoting economic and workforce development opportunities for all New Mexicans, as well as supporting access to adequate wage and work supports for those in crisis and those who are unable to work.
Featured Content
New Mexico’s Working Families Tax Credit and the Federal Earned Income Tax Credit
Tax credits for low- and moderate-income working families are a common-sense way to spur economic activity by putting money into the hands of consumers who will spend it. They also are an effective way to lift working families out of poverty. These are just some of the reasons New Mexico should increase its Working Families Tax Credit.
Improving College Affordability to Support New Mexico’s Education, Workforce, and Economic Goals
New Mexico is a poor state, yet little of our state-based financial aid goes to students who can’t attend college without monetary assistance. This report looks at the state’s financial aid structure — how much money is awarded and where it goes — and makes recommendations for policies to improve financial aid that’s awarded on the basis of need. (A Working Poor Families Project report)
Investing in a Healthier New Mexico: The Economic and Fiscal Benefits of the Medicaid Expansion in New Mexico
The Medicaid expansion, as part of the Affordable Care Act, has been very good for New Mexico. Not only are tens of thousands of New Mexicans able to access health care, the program has brought billions into the state that has created thousands of jobs, economic activity, and tax revenue. (Report)
Recent Publications
Only Wealthy Immigrants Need Apply: The Chilling Effects of “Public Charge”
Policy brief The Trump Administration is trying to change an immigration rule that would harm families and children -- even those family members and kids who are U.S. citizens. This policy brief, co-released with the Fiscal Policy Institute of New York, takes a look at how changes to "public charge" would harm families and New Mexico's economy. (State-level data on fiscal and economic impacts of federal rule change.)
The Working Families Tax Credit is a Smart Investment in a Healthier New Mexico
Fact Sheet Improving the Working Families Tax Credit would put more money back into the hands of New Mexico’s hard-working families – and the businesses where they will spend it. (State-level data on Working Families Tax Credit recipients.)
Recent Blog Posts
Rule change is a moral outrage we must not tolerate for our nation’s children
This revision is not acceptable, it targets immigrant families who are already residing legally in the United States, and it does not reflect America’s historical tradition of welcoming those seeking to make a better life. But there is still time stop this rule from being implemented.
How the Expanded Working Families Tax Credit Helps Your Community
This Labor Day, we're celebrating the expansion of the Working Families Tax Credit during the 2019 legislative session. The 70% increase in the credit will benefit more than 200,000 New Mexico families.
Recent News Coverage
Gov. Lujan Grisham donates $100,000 to fight childhood hunger in NM
Officials with Kids Count, nonprofit that advocates for children, said the governor’s $100,000 donation to the newly-created New Mexico Hunger Action Fund is a step in the right direction. “But we also know we need to think bigger,” said Amber Wallin, director of Kids Count. “In order to really address childhood hunger in New Mexico, we need to think about wages, we need to think about tax policy in New Mexico, we need to make sure our low-income working families in New Mexico are prioritized."
Debate heats up over impact of NM tax law changes
“Our state lawmakers made great strides in putting working families first this year – especially families with children,” said James Jimenez, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, a nonprofit group that supported the tax package and commissioned the report. “These tax changes will really help our working families as well as help make our tax code fairer and more stable.”
Current Initiatives
Working Poor Families Project (WPFP) is a national initiative focused on strengthening state workforce development policies as a way of reducing poverty for working families. One way to address poverty among working Americans is with so-called ‘work supports,’ which help stabilize low-wage workers while assisting their climb up the job ladder. Work supports include child care assistance, health care coverage, funding for adult basic education and community college attendance, and unemployment insurance (UI) benefits.
Fiscal Policy Project, our program focusing on tax and budget policy, also covers work supports and wage issues.
Resources
A Basic Family Budget Calculator is an important tool in determining if a family lives in poverty, because the system currently in place to do that is completely outdated.
Federal poverty guidelines, which dictate whether a family is eligible to receive assistance such as Medicaid and Food Stamps, are tied to a formula that was created in the 1960s. It was based on what the typical family spent on groceries because that was a family’s biggest expense at the time. Today, necessities like housing, childcare and health care take up a far greater share of most family incomes than groceries. Not only do the guidelines not take these changes into account, they do not take into account regional differences in the cost of living.
Because the federal guidelines are so inaccurate, families are generally considered low-income when they earn up to twice (or 200 percent) the poverty level. This makes up for some shortfalls in the guidelines, but they are still nowhere near as accurate as a Basic Family Budget.
- Click here to find out the minimum amount families need to earn in order to live at a basic, no-frills level in New Mexico’s cities and counties