Healthy and Safe Communities
Our communities, workforce, and economy cannot be healthy when so many New Mexico children and families lack access to a comprehensive and high-quality system of physical and behavioral health, prevention, and wellness resources. Safe and supportive communities build resilient families and a strong state.
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 have also been shown to improve health outcomes. These are just some of the reasons New Mexico should increase its Working Families Tax Credit.
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)
The Well-Being of Black Children in New Mexico
Although our state’s Black children are generally faring better than Black children nationally, they still face significant obstacles to success. This report, created in partnership with the NM Office of African American Affairs, looks at how New Mexico’s Black children are doing on 20 indicators of child well-being. (A special KIDS COUNT 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.)
Ensuring a Fair Share: Modernizing Federal Oil and Gas Revenue Policies
Policy Brief New Mexico’s school children are not getting their fair share of oil and gas revenues. That’s because the rental and royalty rates for drilling on federal lands are beyond outdated; some have not been revised in nearly a century. (State-level data on oil and gas production)
Recent Blog Posts
Tax credits are smart policy investments for a healthier New Mexico
How much income a family earns determines where they live, what access they have to schools, food, and health care, as well as the amount of stress they experience in making ends meet. Evidence shows that tax credits for working families are critical for not only putting money back into the hands of these consumers, but also for improving their health and well-being. New Mexico's Working Families Tax Credit brings these benefits to families and could do more if it were increased.
Changing the course on child well-being
The past decade of austerity has been hard on New Mexico’s children. Still, we are optimistic about the future because we believe in the strength and resiliency of New Mexico’s families. We know we can build stronger communities and support more resilient families and children so that they can thrive. But we can only build a stronger New Mexico if our policymakers are willing to provide the revenue we need to make these investments.
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."
Gov. Lujan Grisham aims to end child hunger in NM within a year
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is promising to end child hunger in New Mexico within a year. “Maybe that's too high of a goal, I don't care,” Lujan Grisham said at the Kids Count Conference. “New Mexico needs to institute universal food security services and programs in this state and every single philanthropic partner has to be dedicated to making sure no child in this state will ever go hungry again ..."
Current Initiatives
A Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is a study to determine if a public policy may have unintended consequences on the health of a community or population. Specifically, this HIA, A Health Impact Assessment of a Food Tax in New Mexico, looks at whether reinstating the gross receipts tax on food–essentially raising the cost of groceries–would negatively impact the health of New Mexico’s low-income families and, if so, whether the potential benefits of more revenue for local governments would offset such impacts.