New Delhi: New Mexico’s promise of free child care comes with a fiscal escape hatch
SANTA FE, N.M. — An ambitious universal child care program aimed at fully footing the bill for working families across New Mexico is being enshrined into law, with state legislators making good on promises by Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to make the state the first in the nation to offer such a program to families of all income levels.
As parents across the nation grapple with crippling daycare bills that threaten to keep them at home and out of the workforce, political leaders from New York to San Francisco have been angling to expand access to free and subsidized care. The political stakes are high as the potential for budget uncertainties and fraud looms large.
California has opted to eliminate copayments for some families, while Washington and Oregon cap what families pay. In Vermont, a payroll tax on employers funds child care subsidies.
In New Mexico, the plan relies heavily on the financial windfall from oil and gas production — including earnings from a recently minted $10 billion trust fund for early childhood education. It’s a delicate balance for a progressive governor who initially set out to rein in the industry.
Lujan Grisham wraps up her tenure next year, and state lawmakers wary of unchecked spending opted during the legislative session that ended Thursday to take a cautious approach. They’re leaving the door open to copayments if public finances deteriorate. That’s a compromise Lujan Grisham had to make.
As much as $700 million more will be funneled over the next five years to New Mexico’s child care assistance program, state officials said. Copayments are unlikely and would require 90-days notice to families.
Decisions on possible cost-sharing will be tied to new annual reporting requirements. The early education agency has new authority to monitor how much child care providers pay employees, manage debt and structure their businesses.
State Sen. George Muñoz, cosponsor of the bill, said the Legislature seized an opportunity to put guardrails in place.
“We didn’t want to end up like Minnesota, where all of the sudden there was rampant fraud,” he said, referring to allegations by U.S. prosecutors that billions in federal funds were stolen from Minnesota-run programs for children with autism, addiction services and more.
Families stand to benefit enormously, Muñoz said, explaining free care will put money back in their pockets.
Marianna Eanone of Las Cruces said her income combined with her husband’s Army salary was just above the previous cutoff for child care assistance. They used to pay $1,000 a month to send their 3-year-old to a licensed home daycare provider, along with afterschool care for their kindergartener.
“It’s been a weight off to not have to worry about that,” said Eanone, who works for a program that connects families with child development services.
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