New Mexico
Celebrating a tax win for New Mexico’s kids and families
As mamas, we know that having kids changes how you see the world. Figuring out how to keep your little ones safe and healthy, so they can grow up to thrive, is a worry that doesn’t go away. Finding access to high-quality care for our children has felt nearly impossible, and for too many, affording that care truly is impossible. Yet parents across New Mexico deserve peace of mind, and all our kids deserve a bright start in life.
In the recent legislative session, we just made that a little easier. After nearly six years of advocacy, we exempted the Gross Receipts Tax (GRT) on childcare, for those eligible for state childcare assistance contracts and state Pre-K services.This small but important change to our state’s tax code is a win for New Mexico’s families.
Typically, businesses pass GRT down to their consumers. Yet many childcare providers have been shouldering the cost of this tax because the families they serve simply couldn’t afford it. The GRT has been a significant operating expense, particularly for those serving our most in-need communities. For many providers, this expense has limited their ability to recruit and retain staff or purchase classroom supplies. Other providers have had to pass this tax on to families who are already struggling to make ends meet.
By creating opportunities for parents to pursue further education or participate in the workforce and support their families, childcare providers play a critical role in our economy. A vast and still growing body of research also shows that childcare providers play a pivotal role in children’s development and wellbeing—with kids who get quality early childhood care having better outcomes throughout their entire lives.
But it’s also important that we support and trust the people who provide the childcare that we all depend upon. Many of those caring for our kids and helping to power our economy are women of color and unfortunately, all too often these voices are excluded from the spaces where policy decisions are made.
Our capital can be a challenging place to navigate, especially for newcomers to state politics. Not everyone in Santa Fe was ready to shift tax policy on the insight shared by childcare educators who own these small businesses. For decades, too many well-intentioned policy makers have been comfortable assuming they know best for New Mexicans. But representation and perspective matters, so we kept showing-up, asking for meetings, and creating spaces for parents to speak for themselves.
Year after year, as New Mexicans elected more lawmakers who reflect the diversity of our state, we built more bipartisan support for eliminating this GRT. Pragmatic legislators holding new leadership, including Indigenous people, women of color, and working parents themselves were listening and trusted our knowledge of the issues impacting the communities we come from.
Given how essential childcare is to the wellbeing of our communities as a whole, we are incredibly proud that New Mexico is becoming a leader in early childhood care and education. We can do right by New Mexicans when we center the expertise of everyday leaders that hold our most challenging issues close to heart. Now with this tax reform, alongside other initiatives to bring our values closer to reality, high-quality childcare will be within reach for more kids and families that need it.
Representative Lara Cadena is Vice Chair of the House Taxation and Revenue Committee. Angela Garcia is the Owner of The Toy Box Early Learning Child Care Centers in Las Cruces and Co-Founder of Full Circle Children, Family, and Educator Services.
New Mexico authorities have accused Emmy-winning actor Timothy Busfield, known for series “The West Wing” and “Thirtysomething,” of child sex abuse.
A judge on Friday issued an arrest warrant for the 68-year-old actor on two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and a single count of child abuse. The arrest warrant affidavit, reviewed by The Times on Sunday, accuses Busfield of inappropriately touching two child actors, who are brothers, during his tenure on the Fox crime drama “The Cleaning Lady.”
“The health and safety of our cast and crew is always our top priority, especially the safety of minors on our productions,” Fox and Warner Bros. Television said in a statement shared Sunday. “We take all allegations of misconduct very seriously and have systems in place to promptly and thoroughly investigate, and when needed, take appropriate action. … We are aware of the current charges against Mr. Busfield and have been and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement.”
Busfield, who was an actor, producer and director for “The Cleaning Lady,” allegedly sexually assaulted of one of the young actors multiple times during his tenure. According to the affidavit, one child actor said Busfield first touched his “‘private areas’” multiple times on set when he was 7 years old. The actor said that when he was 8 years old, Busfield touched him inappropriately again several times. He was “afraid to tell anyone because Tim was the Director, and he feared Tim would get mad at him,” the affidavit said.
The second child actor said that Busfield “started touching them for the first two years” of his time on “The Cleaning Lady,” which filmed in Albuquerque, according to the complaint. The investigator said both children said they did not speak out about their alleged encounters with Busfield out of fear or concern for him.
The actors’ mother, per the complaint, reported the alleged abuse to Child Protective Services in October 2025, claiming that Busfield sexually abused her children from November 2022 to spring 2024. Police began investigating the alleged abuse in November 2024 after receiving a request from a doctor at the University of New Mexico Hospital.
According to the affidavit, the investigation also included interviews with the children’s therapists and doctors. One of the child actors, who disclosed the alleged abuse by Busfield to his therapist, has issues with bed-wetting “along with other behavior issues,” was diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety and has suffered nightmares “about the director touching him,” according to the complaint.
The investigator also spoke to numerous cast and crew members of “The Cleaning Lady,” which was canceled in June after four seasons. The affidavit details the investigator’s conversations with production assistants, the studio teacher and Busfield.
Busfield, married to actor Melissa Gilbert, told the investigator that “Cleaning Lady” producer Warner Bros. Television notified him in the spring of 2025 of an investigation regarding complaints “about him from the boys.” When asked whether he had any physical contact with the two child actors, Busfield “said it was highly likely that he would have,” the complaint said. He suggested to the investigator that the boys’ mother might have sought “revenge” on the director for “not bringing her kids back for the final season,” according to the complaint.
Though Busfield confirmed the identities of the young actors to the investigator in his interview, he allegedly said later, “ ‘I don’t remember those boys’ ” and “ ‘I don’t remember overtly tickling the boys ever, but it wouldn’t be uncommon for me.’ ”
The complaint also details Warner Bros.’ investigation into Busfield’s alleged behavior. The studio started its investigation after receiving an anonymous tip in February 2025 from the SAG-AFTRA hotline regarding a December 2024 incident. Busfield allegedly entered the hair and makeup trailer and “kissed a minor male on the face as the minor was getting a haircut.” The complaint further alleged “there are pictures of Mr. Busfield, ‘tickling and caressing the head and body of minor boys.’ ”
Neither Fox or Warner Bros. immediately responded to a request for comment on Sunday, but a spokesperson for the latter told the New York Times it is “aware of the current charges against Mr. Busfield and have been and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement.”
Busfield received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Elliot Weston in the ABC drama “Thirtysomething” in the late 1980s and early ‘90s. He also appeared in “Field of Dreams,” “Little Big League,” “The Byrds of Paradise” and other titles. He is perhaps best known for his recurring role in “The West Wing” as Danny Concannon, a White House correspondent who strikes up a relationship with Press Secretary C.J. Clegg, played by Allison Janney.
In addition to television and film, Busfield is a stage actor and director. In 1991, Busfield and his brother Buck Busfield created the B Street Theatre, a nonprofit theater in Sacramento that first began as a touring theater group for children. He also pitched for baseball team the Sacramento Smokeys and was inducted into the Sacramento Baseball Hall of Fame in 2024.
Prior to the allegations from his time on “The Cleaning Lady,” Busfield was accused in 1994 of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old actor who appeared on “Little Big League.” He denied those claims and sued his accuser for defamation. The case ended in a settlement, with a judge ordering Busfield to pay the woman $150,000.
Authorities in New Mexico issued an arrest warrant Friday for director and Emmy Award-winning actor Timothy Busfield to face a child sex abuse charge.
An investigator with the Albuquerque Police Department filed a criminal complaint in support of the charge, which says a child reported that Busfield touched him inappropriately. The acts allegedly occurred on the set of “The Cleaning Lady,” a TV series Busfield directed and acted in.
The child said the first incident happened when he was 7 years old and Busfield touched him three or four times. Busfield allegedly touched him five or six times on another occasion when he was 8.
The child’s mother reported to Child Protective Services that the abuse occurred between November 2022 and spring 2024, the complaint said.
Busfield’s attorney and agent did not immediately respond to email messages seeking comment late Friday.
The arrest warrant, which was signed by a judge, said the charge is for two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor.
According to the complaint, the child, which it identifies only by his initials, has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. A social worker documented him saying he has had nightmares about Busfield touching him and woken up scared.
The child was reportedly afraid to tell anyone because Busfield was the director and he feared he would get mad at him.
The investigation began in November 2024, when the investigator responded to a call from a doctor at the University of New Mexico Hospital. The child’s parents had gone there at the recommendation of a law firm, the complaint said.
“The Cleaning Lady” aired for four seasons on Fox, ending in 2025. It starred Elodie Yung as a Cambodian doctor who comes to the United States to get medical treatment for her son, witnesses a mob killing and ends up becoming a cleaner for organized crime.
The show was produced by Warner Bros., which according to the complaint conducted its own investigation into the abuse allegations but was unable to corroborate them.
Busfield is known for appearances in “The West Wing,” “Field of Dreams” and “Thirtysomething,” the latter of which won him an Emmy for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series in 1991.
He is married to actor Melissa Gilbert; there was no immediate response to an email sent to her publicist.
West Melbourne, Florida fire: Massive blaze engulfs apartment near Palm Bay, Brevard County
Georgia loses another outside linebacker to the transfer portal
Hawaii: A Kingdom Crossing Oceans review – a feather-filled thriller full of gods, gourds and ghosts
President Dallin H. Oaks dedicates the Burley Idaho Temple, a place of ‘much significance to him’
Iowa takes a tough Bennett Stirtz lesson in Illinois loss | Leistikow
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
Federal judge blocks Trump administration from enforcing mail-in voting rules in executive order
Four killed, 20 injured in overnight Russian strikes across Ukraine
Nationwide anti-ICE protests call for accountability after Renee Good’s death
Trump says Venezuela has begun releasing political prisoners ‘in a BIG WAY’
Somali minister says Israel plans to displace Palestinians to Somaliland
-
Detroit, MI1 week ago2 hospitalized after shooting on Lodge Freeway in Detroit
-
Technology5 days agoPower bank feature creep is out of control
-
Dallas, TX3 days agoAnti-ICE protest outside Dallas City Hall follows deadly shooting in Minneapolis
-
Dallas, TX6 days agoDefensive coordinator candidates who could improve Cowboys’ brutal secondary in 2026
-
Delaware3 days agoMERR responds to dead humpback whale washed up near Bethany Beach
-
Iowa5 days agoPat McAfee praises Audi Crooks, plays hype song for Iowa State star
-
Health1 week agoViral New Year reset routine is helping people adopt healthier habits
-
Montana1 day agoService door of Crans-Montana bar where 40 died in fire was locked from inside, owner says