Our Legislative Policy Priorities
Because changing public policies can take time, we often must work on the same priority policies over the course of several years. And even when a policy win is achieved for New Mexico families and children, the work is not ended. We often work to improve upon existing policies and must fight against other proposals that would end or water them down. Below are lists of specific polices we worked on over the past several years, organized by legislative sessions. (For a longer list of policy wins – and what they mean for New Mexico’s children and families – see Our Impact page here.)
2024 Regular Legislative Session
Our 2024 Policy Priorities
Family Economic Security
- Improve wages and economic supports for low-income families
- Enact a paid family and medical leave program
- Address child hunger and strengthen food security
Cradle-to-Career Education
- Increase funding for early childhood care and education services and implement a wage and career ladder for early childhood providers
- Protect the Early Childhood Trust Fund from being used for programs that do not serve young children
- Increase targeted K-12 funding to support students named in the Yazzie/Martinez lawsuit
- Create a Tribal Education Trust Fund
- Fully fund the Opportunity Scholarship
Healthy and Safe Communities
- Enact new measures to reduce child gun deaths and improve gun safety
- Create a Public Health and Climate Resiliency program and fund
- Require reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in statute
Tax Fairness and Budget Adequacy
- Increase the Child Tax Credit for young children and increase other targeted tax credits and rebates for families earning low and moderate incomes
- Diversify and stabilize revenue and make our tax code more equitable by raising income taxes for those at the very top and for corporations, and limiting the capital gains deduction
2024 Coalition Policy Priorities
Family Economic Security
- Increase TANF cash benefits
- Provide assistance for families in transition from fossil fuels jobs
- Address housing stability and affordability
Cradle-to-Career Education
- Fully fund child care assistance to maintain $0 co-pays for parents and pay increases for teachers
- More state accountability in responding to the Yazzie/Martinez lawsuit
- Ensure smaller class sizes
- Strengthen the educator pipeline and improve teacher training programs
- Increase investments in workforce development and training and ensure these opportunities are available and accessible to all New Mexicans
Healthy and Safe Communities
- Ensure full funding of Medicaid and the Developmental Disabilities Waiver
- Improve access to affordable health care coverage through the Medicaid Forward plan
- Fully fund New Mexico Health Councils
2023 Regular Legislative Session
- Download our post-session presentation on what happened during the 2023 legislative session (April 20, 2023; 28 slides; pdf)
- Download our fact sheet on what happened during the 2023 regular legislative session (April 2023; 4 pages; pdf)
- Download our policy priorities (Updated Jan. 2023; 2 pages; pdf)
- Download our tax policy priorities (Nov. 2022; 2 pages; pdf)
- Link to our blog on our policy priorities written as New Year’s resolutions
2022 Regular Legislative Session
- Download our post-session presentation on what happened during the 2022 regular legislative session (March 2022; 28 pages; pdf)
- Download our fact sheet on what happened during the 2022 regular legislative session (March 2022; 2 pages; pdf)
- Download our policy priorities (Dec. 2021; 2 pages; pdf)
2021 Regular Legislative Session
- Download our post-session presentation on what happened during the 2021 regular legislative session (April 2021; 27 pages; pdf)
- Download our fact sheet on what happened during the 2021 regular legislative session (March 2021; 2 pages; pdf)
- Download our policy priorities (Nov. 2020; 2 pages; pdf)
2020 Special Legislative Session
- Download our fact sheet on what happened during the 2020 special legislative session (July 2020; 2 pages; pdf)
- Download our policy priorities (May 2020; 2 pages; pdf)
2019 Regular Legislative Session
- Download our fact sheet on what happened during the 2019 regular legislative session (March 2019; 2 pages; pdf)
- Download our policy priorities (Dec. 2018; 2 pages; pdf)