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.
Grant’s Monday Night Forecast
A few evaporating rain showers are possible again Tuesday with warmer temperatures. Windier weather later this week will bring a high fire danger back to New Mexico.
It’s been a warm day with a few isolated showers and thunderstorms across central and northern New Mexico. Some of that rain has made it to the ground, while other showers have evaporated before reaching the surface. Temperatures have climbed into the 70s and 80s for most of the state. Showers will fade after sunset, with mostly clear skies overnight and mild temperatures.
Even warmer weather is on the way Tuesday with lighter winds. More areas will reach the 80s by the afternoon. A few spotty showers will develop again, especially near the mountains, with some of that rain evaporating before reaching the ground.
Winds pick up Wednesday afternoon, with gusts between 25 and 45 mph. This will begin another stretch of high fire danger across the state. The strongest winds arrive Thursday, with westerly gusts of 35 to 55 mph. That will expand the fire danger statewide. A dry cold front will move through Thursday as well, but temperatures will only drop slightly, ending up closer to average.
Breezy conditions continue Friday through the weekend as the jet stream pulls more moisture into New Mexico. That will bring increasing chances for rain and thunderstorms this weekend, with a few lingering into early next week.
New Mexico
Landlord AC ordinance, Rio Grande water levels, Spotty rain, New legislative office, New Mexico Motorfest
Monday’s Top Stories
Monday’s Five Facts
[1] ABQ City Councilor aims to bolster protections for renters amid unseasonable warmth – Albuquerque city councilor is looking to make sure city landlords are not only providing cooling systems, but also ensuring they actually work when they’re needed. City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn spearheaded an ordinance in December of 2024, requiring all Albuquerque rental properties to have a cooling system. Now, Fiebelkorn is taking it a step further, hoping to establish cooling system performance requirements. The ordinance is expected to be voted on in final action at Monday’s city council meeting.
[2] Rio Grande showing dry spots in Valencia County amid record-low snowpack – Portions of the Rio Grande are now seeing dry spots earlier than expected. Officials say the timing is not normal. In Valencia County, parts of the river are already running dry. Near the river crossing in Los Lunas, the river has open pockets. Further south, it is being reported as dry as well. There is a slight positive outlook for the monsoon season, with forecasters and officials predicting a strong season in the Middle Rio Grande Valley.
[3] Very spotty rainfall, warmer, & mostly calm week – Warmer weather will continue building in across the state throughout the upcoming week. A few isolated rain chances will return Monday in parts of New Mexico, but some of that rain may evaporate before reaching the ground. Temperatures will continue to increase through the middle of the week.
[4] NM representatives celebrate grand opening of new office with open house – A new state legislative office made its debut for representatives Eleanor Chavez and Yanira Gurrola. The new location is just one of the handful of new legislative offices now open across the state. They hosted a grand opening for the building that was open to the public. Representative Gurrola says it’s just one step towards modernizing the state’s legislature. The new office will allow residents to stay more connected to each representative.
[5] New Mexico Motorfest 2026 takes place in celebration of Route 66 Centennial – Another Route 66 celebration took place over the weekend and this one was all about cars. The New Mexico Motorfest happened at the Expo New Mexico racetrack. Over 300 vehicles from classic hot rods to lifted trucks were featured at the event. Some of the proceeds went to New Mexico veterans.
New Mexico
Los Alamos Public Schools Students Compete At 2026 New Mexico State Science & Engineering Fair
Students from Barranca Mesa Elementary, Mountain Elementary, Los Alamos Middle School, and Los Alamos High School at the 2026 New Mexico State Science & Engineering Fair at New Mexico Tech. Photo CourtesyLAPS
LAHS junior Tate Plohr and freshman Linus Plohr qualified to attend the 2026 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in May in Phoenix, Ariz. Photo Courtesy LAPS
Los Alamos Middle School student Branden Keller was awarded the CO2 & Greenhouse Gas Scholarship in the amount of $2,000 at the 2026 New Mexico State Science & Engineering Fair. Photo Courtesy/LAPS
LAPS NEWS RELEASE
Twenty students from Barranca Mesa Elementary, Mountain Elementary, Los Alamos Middle School (LAMS) and Los Alamos High School (LAHS) competed, with several garnering awards at the 2026 New Mexico State Science and Engineering Fair held at New Mexico Tech in Socorro.
LAHS junior Tate Plohr qualified to attend the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) next month in Phoenix, Ariz. He was awarded the 3rd-place Grand Award. Freshman Linus Plohr qualified as an alternate and will also be attending the Regeneron ISEF.
Students who participated in the state competition include, from Barranca Mesa Elementary, Sydney Chen, Mary Beth Kelsey, Lily Neale, Aurora Roberts Voss and Henry Rodarte; and Glyn Lo and Ernest Maupin, Mountain Elementary.
Students from LAMS who competed include Evelyn Fobes, Mason Garcia, Andrew Gilbertson, James Junghans, Sequoya Ke, Brandon Keller, Nejan Liyanage and Daniel Yampolsky.
LAHS students Julia Neale, Linus Plohr, Tate Plohr, Lilia Veteva, Helena Welch and Kalliope Welch competed at the senior level.
2026 Award winners:
Category Awards – Junior Division
- Animal Science, Cellular & Molecular
- Biomedical & Health Science
- Honorable Mention: Sequoya Ke
- Embedded Systems, Math, Robotics, Software & Technology
- 2nd place: Nejan Liyanage
- Physics & Astronomy
- 1st place: Sydney Chen
- 2nd place: Mason Garcia
- Honorable Mention: Marybeth Kelsey
- Plant Science
Category Awards – Senior Division
- Behavioral & Social Science:
- Honorable Mention: Linus Plohr
- Earth & Environmental
- Honorable Mention: Lilia Viteva
- Embedded Systems, Math, Robotics, & System Software
- 3rd Place: Helena Welch and Kalliope Welch
- Physics & Astronomy
Grand Awards
- ISEF finalist 3rd place: Tate Plohr
- Brandon Keller received the CO2 & Greenhouse Gas Scholarship in the amount of $2,000. James Jungans and Marybeth Kelsey garnered Thermo Fisher Awards.
Other special award winners include:
- CO2 & Greenhouse Reduction Awards (Junior Division)
- Daniel Yampolsky, 2nd place, Earth & Environmental Sciences
- Sequoya Ke, 1st place, Biomedical & Health Science
- Brandon Keller, 1st place, Energy & Materials Science
- Andrew Gilbertson, 1st place, Physics & Astronomy
- CO2 & Greenhouse Gas Reduction Award (Senior Division)
- Lilia Viteva, 1st place, Earth & Environmental Sciences
- Office of Naval Research Award
- David Shortess Award
- New Mexico AVS Award
- Citadel Award
- Naval Research Award
- NM Network for Women in Science & Engineering Award
- Yale Science & Engineering Award
- Rose Baca Rivet Award
Related
-
Oregon3 minutes ago100+ Women Who Care of Central Oregon Donates Nearly $20,000 to M Perfectly – The Source – Bend, Oregon
-
Pennsylvania9 minutes agoLeon Smith of Pennsylvania named 2026 National Teacher of the Year:
-
Rhode Island15 minutes agoRI just moved its primary elections for 2026. Here’s why, and when.
-
South-Carolina21 minutes agoSC lawmakers’ second push to ban most abortions advances
-
South Dakota27 minutes agoTim Begalka seeks re-election to South Dakota Senate
-
Tennessee33 minutes agoTennessee Kids Serve Summer Challenge 2026: First Lady Lee invites students to give back
-
Texas39 minutes agoGlam influencer who drowned during Texas Ironman had battled flu but ignored pleas to ditch race
-
Utah45 minutes agoOne hospitalized in St. George after rollover crash south of Utah-Arizona border