New Mexico's free child care program is bringing relief that millions of U.S. families need
A ballot measure enacted with bipartisan support two years ago tapped a unique funding source — but shows how states can transform households’ finances when they get creative.
SANTA FE, N.M. — Tens of millions of voters have already cast ballots in the election, with living costs top of mind. For many families, child care is often the biggest.
Maggie Wright-Oviedo and her husband, JJ Oviedo, live in Santa Fe with their two young kids, baby Patricio and Uriel, a toddler. Thanks to a state program launched during the recovery from the pandemic, they pay nothing for child care.
“Without this, we would be struggling a lot, and with this, we are making it,” said Wright-Oviedo, 41, who’s both a home-care nurse and a prison outreach worker, while JJ, 42, works on a family ranch, cleans rugs for a local company and is a musician. “That’s the difference,” she said. “This is the key.”
Maggie Wright-Oviedo estimates her family would be spending at least half their take-home pay on child care if not for the state program.Courtesy of Maggie Wright-OviedoIt’s a signature policy victory for Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who campaigned on the issue in 2018 and was re-elected in 2022 — as well as an outcome both presidential campaigns say they want to pursue, in some form or another, for households nationwide.
Vice President Kamala Harris proposes capping child care costs at 7% of working families’ incomes, along with an up-to-$6,000 expanded child tax credit for those with newborns. Former President Donald Trump hasn’t outlined specific legislation, but he has said revenue from much steeper tariffs would “take care” of child care costs — a prospect many economists doubt; his running mate, who backs a $5,000 child tax credit, has suggested relatives could help out more.
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