New Mexico In Depth • 2022 Legislative special edition
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Commentary
New Mexico has an opportunity to learn what works best following two years of extraordinary innovation
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federal COVID relief funds. While decreased enrollment, he 2022 regular legexpanded child care access appears family and provider fears islative session will to be a priority of the governor, it is about COVID exposure, be the second unless clear whether legislators share and unpredictable cloder the persistent shadow this view. of COVID-19. For those sures and quarantines. This is also the last regular sesof us who focus on child Yet this year has also seen and family well-being, the a dramatic expansion in sion before a scheduled public vote situation is simultaneously By Hailey Heinz eligibility for child care in fall of 2022 on whether New dire and hopeful. The dire: assistance. Child care Mexico should tap its Land Grant Families with children, esassistance helps lower-in- Permanent Fund to support addipecially those with lower incomes, come families afford care, and New tional funds for early childhood have been slammed by the simulta- Mexico has expanded the program and K-12 education. The vote will to include many middle class fambe the culmination of a decade-long neous impacts of school and child policy conversation, and comes at care closures, job losses, and the ilies, who have long struggled to anxiety and grief that have characafford the high cost of high-quality a historically unique moment. New Mexico is enjoying an abundance care. terized this time for many. How long will this policy last? We of resources thanks to federal relief The hopeful: The sudden loss of will watch to see whether state lead- dollars and high state revenues, in-person schooling and child care has renewed public focus on the ers view this expansion as a tempo- as well as an avalanche of critical importance of these sectors. States rary recovery measure for workers, needs. The Legislature will not dehave received federal funding to or as a permanent move toward termine the outcome of the Permastabilize them from the impacts of more universal child care access. nent Fund vote, but we’ll watch to COVID, allowing new resources to This question is entwined with see whether the prospect of the vote flow into schools, child care, interthe ongoing issue of who governs factors into early childhood fundnet connectivity and other longstanding needs. During the session and in the coming year, our team at the UniDuring the session and in the coming year, our team at versity of New Mexico Cradle to Career Policy Institute will watch the University of New Mexico Cradle to Career Policy to see what New Mexico decides to Institute will watch to see what New Mexico decides keep from the pandemic, and what the state casts aside. In our policy to keep from the pandemic, and what the state casts and personal lives, the pandemic has offered a complex mix of things aside. In our policy and personal lives, the pandemic we are eager to lose forever, alonghas offered a complex mix of things we are eager to lose side those we hope to maintain. In the child care sector, forever, alongside those we hope to maintain. COVID-19 has brought great instability for providers faced with
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ing and policy decisions. Expanded child care assistance is just one COVID-era policy that leaders may decide to keep or adapt. Although distance learning in K-12 schools was challenging for many families, others enjoyed the flexibility and found new forms of family engagement. These families may benefit from increased online and hybrid options in the future. Home visiting, a service for families with or expecting new babies, saw some families thrive through video visits who might have been hesitant to accept in-person services in their homes. Other families longed to welcome home visitors back into their living rooms. The COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, with lawmakers setting policy under conditions of extreme uncertainty. As difficult as this is, the possibilities are also exciting: New Mexico’s leaders have a unique opportunity in 2022 to look back at two years of extraordinary innovation and decide which parts to fund and sustain. Hailey Heinz is a research scientist at the University of New Mexico Cradle to Career Policy Institute, which produces research, evaluation, and analysis that supports thoughtful and informed policymaking for children and families. The views in this column are the authors’ alone and do not reflect the view or opinions of New Mexico In Depth.
