Press Releases & Media Statements

We want to thank those members of our congressional delegation who fought hard for this reauthorization – U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, and Representatives Ben Ray Luján and Michelle Lujan Grisham. We laud them for their hard work to keep these New Mexico gems open for families, backpackers, and other outdoors enthusiasts, and pristine for future generations.

“Better tax policies like these are an important tool for creating a state with more opportunity and more broadly shared prosperity,” said James Jimenez, executive director of NM Voices. “Improving and expanding the taxation of wealth could help bring more balance to our state’s tax code by ensuring the wealthiest families are paying their share toward building a stronger New Mexico.”

“Not all bad experiences can be prevented, but many ACEs can be. Local communities, with support from the state government, are best positioned to play a prevention role,” said James Jimenez, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children. “Mental health care, drug and alcohol addiction treatment, programs that help solve generational poverty, and parent coaching services like home visiting, all require state support in order to be available to those who need them.”

With election results in, it’s time to get to work. A new governor in office signals change on the horizon for New Mexico. We urge our new Governor, and our new and returning policymakers, to prioritize our hard-working families and their kids when they meet in January, 2019. Our Roadmap to a Stronger New Mexico outlines changes that are vital to improving child well-being in our state.

“Taxes are the way we accomplish great things for our state – build our schools and infrastructure, provide health care and public safety, and more,” said James Jimenez, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, which partnered with ITEP on the report release. “These systems and services underpin our economy and improve our quality of life. We all need to do our part to support them, but our current state tax system ensures that those who can afford to pay the most actually pay the least.”

“Pushing the cost of a college education onto students and their families will not make our state stronger,” said James Jimenez, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children. “Only by adequately investing in higher education will we be able to create a New Mexico in which everyone has the opportunity to succeed.”

“To grow up healthy, kids need a clean, beautiful, and accessible outdoors where they can spend time with family, play, and discover the amazing world around them,” said James Jimenez, Executive Director of New Mexico Voices for Children. “Without the Land and Water Conservation Fund, New Mexico will be severely hindered in our efforts to provide and protect such vital outdoor places for our families, including historically and socially significant outdoor areas.”

With limited access to opportunities to advance their education and find family-sustaining jobs, New Mexico’s 33,000 young adult parents face hurdles to support their children and fulfill their own potential, according to Opening Doors for Young Parents, the latest KIDS COUNT® policy report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT grantee in New Mexico, New Mexico Voices for Children, joined the call for action so these young parents can contribute to the state’s communities and economy.

“A big drop in poverty for our youngest children is very good news, as poverty is most harmful to children when they are young. This is the time when critical brain development is happening and not only do kids living in poverty have fewer resources for enrichment, the stress caused by financial hardship can do real damage,” said James Jimenez, executive director for New Mexico Voices for Children, a child advocacy group.

“We are appalled that the Trump Administration has taken another step away from simple human decency by trying to subvert the Flores Settlement Agreement. The number one priority of the Flores agreement is that children not be incarcerated. This foundational principle recognizes that the best way to ensure a child’s well-being is to keep them out of jail. These standards of protection have been in place for decades and there is no reason they should be discarded."