Third FoundationMay 1

"The universal childcare program in New Mexico has also improved conditions for childcare workers themselves — the poverty rate among childcare providers dropped from 27.4 percent in 2020 to 16 percent in 2024. New Mexico’s childcare workforce, historically among the lowest-paid in the state, is finally seeing wages rise. Rodriguez’s lawsuit, if successful, would unwind the regulatory framework that makes those wage gains possible.

"On May Day, when we talk about whose side New Mexico’s politicians are on, the answer is usually obscured by talking points and donor lists. In this case, Rodriguez has removed all ambiguity. He went to court to prove just what a monumental piece of shit he is. The filing is 137 pages long. The target is a program to help children and families, that has lifted already 120,000 New Mexicans out of poverty."

#universalChildcare #NewMexico #us_politics
https://alisav.substack.com/p/may-day-dispatch-duke-rodriguezs

MAY DAY DISPATCH: Duke Rodriguez's War on New Mexico Children

On International Workers Day, New Mexico's GOP gubernatorial frontrunner is in court trying to take childcare away from 120,000 families.

The Pugilist with Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez
Show threadThird Foundation

"What Rodriguez won't tell you is how the universal childcare program is paid for. New Mexico's universal childcare is NOT funded through a tax increase — not a penny. It draws from the Land Grant Permanent Fund, a $33 billion endowment built on revenues from oil, gas, and mineral extraction on publicly held lands.

"The fund pays out a percentage of its total value annually to early childhood programs — and because the principal is large enough, it continuously replenishes itself through investment returns. In other words, New Mexico is funding childcare the way old-money families fund their children's futures: through a permanent trust.

"The difference is that this trust belongs to every New Mexican. When Republicans claim the program is fiscally reckless, they are describing a fund that is larger than the state's entire annual budget. So I guess the GOP motto is “trust funds for kids of me, but not for kids of thee.”"

#universalChildcare #NewMexico #us_politics

May 1 at 5:26pmWeb