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.)

2025 Regular Legislative Session

Our 2025 Policy Priorities

Family Economic Security

  • Pass a paid family and medical leave program.
  • Start a Baby Bond program to address generational and racial wealth divides.
  • Implement expanded Guaranteed Income programs, building on previous and existing pilots and programs. 
  • Address housing stability and affordability. 

Cradle-to-Career Education

  • Increase funding for early childhood care and education services
  • Fund and implement a wage and career ladder for early childhood providers .
  • Protect the Early Childhood Trust Fund.
  • Expand access to doula services by allowing providers to bill through Medicaid. 
  • Increase and improve targeting for K-12 funding to support students named in the Yazzie/Martinez lawsuit
  • Create a Tribal Education Trust Fund.
  • Increase investments in workforce development and training and ensure these opportunities are available and accessible to all New Mexicans.

Healthy and Safe Communities

  • Improve access to affordable health care coverage through the Medicaid Forward plan.
  • Create a State Climate Health Program and an Extreme Weather Resilience Fund.
  • Protect immigrant families, workers, and communities and continue promoting economic justice and inclusion for immigrants in New Mexico.
  • Address climate change by codifying emissions goals and providing appropriate funding.

Tax Fairness and Budget Adequacy

2024 Regular Legislative Session

  • Download our presentation about what happened during the 2024 legislative session (Mar. 13, 2024; 29 slides; pdf)
  • Download our fact sheet about what happened during the 2024 legislative session (Mar. 2024; 4 pages; pdf)
  • Download our policy priorities (Jan. 2024; 2 pages; pdf)

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)