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 (KRQE) – New Mexico is turning to artificial intelligence to help firefighters get to wildfires quicker. Firefighters have relied on sightings of wildfire, 911 calls, and even people in lookout towers who see smoke or flames. Now, they are turning to new technology. “Our firefighters no longer waste critical time trying to locate the fire based on a vague description or chasing smoke, and incident commanders receive real-time visual intelligence during active fires, which helps them make better tactical decisions and resource deployment, and public safety decisions,” said Laura McCarthy, New Mexico State Forester.
The AI-enabled wildfire detection technology provides continuous monitoring of the highest-risk areas. The state is deploying 11 stations in Albuquerque, the East Mountains, and the Santa Fe area, with more stations around the state planned.
Director of Government Development for Pano AI and former wildland firefighter Kat Williams, explained how the tech works. “So the way that Pano works is we deploy high-definition cameras that have AI running on those images. And when the AI detects a wildfire, then it goes to a fully-staffed intelligence center, where a pano analyst will confirm that it is a wildfire. And then that visual intelligence is sent to all fire agencies within a jurisdiction so that,” said Williams.
She said that the visual intelligence from the pano cameras can allow firefighters to send the right resources the first time so that they can extinguish those fires right away. Five stations are already operational and monitoring 24 hours a day, seven days a week with six additional stations expected to come online by early 2026.
Each station costs about $50,000 a year to operate. The quicker information about a fire starting could also lead to quicker evacuation orders for people affected by the blazes.
The line is growing at M&T Mini Mart in Albuquerque, and so is the jackpot
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The line is growing at M&T Mini Mart in Albuquerque, and so is the jackpot. With Tuesday night’s Mega Millions drawing reaching over $900 million, hope is high, and ticket sales are booming.
“They’re meticulous with the way they do their lottery, right?” said Ashlee Weiss, co-owner of the M&T Mini Mart. “So, everyone has their own way to do things, and a lot of people are specific to a store. They feel like they win better at that store, they get better luck at that store, and luckily we’ve become that store for quite a few people.”
M&T Mini Mart Owner, Teresa Thompson, says he’s been selling hundreds of tickets a day, and it hasn’t slowed down.
“[It’s been] much busier,” said Thompson. “People buy tickets. If they win, then they use their winnings to buy more tickets, and it’s just like a big cycle.”
Players like Hazel and her dad say, even with the odds stacked against them, it’s about the dream. She says she’s her dad’s good luck charm.
“My dad wanted me to pick some lottos because the last time I did, he won $30,” she said.
Tickets are on sale until the drawing at 9 p.m. Tuesday night, then it’s all up to luck. If you haven’t bought one yet, you’re not alone. Lines like this one are expected right up to the drawing.
Whether it’s a dream, a dollar, or a long shot — this gas station says they’ll be ready to print hope until the very last minute.
“It spurs a lot of imagination when it gets this big,” said Wendy Ahlm, New Mexico Lottery director of Advertisement and Marketing. “People start thinking about what they could do, what they would do differently, what they might, you know, gift their friends or their family, or what kind of lifestyle they would have.”
New Orleans Privateers (0-2) at New Mexico Lobos (2-1)
Albuquerque, New Mexico; Wednesday, 1 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: New Mexico takes on New Orleans after Destinee Hooks scored 20 points in New Mexico’s 71-64 victory over the North Carolina A&T Aggies.
New Mexico went 12-8 at home a season ago while going 18-14 overall. The Lobos averaged 70.4 points per game last season, 33.9 in the paint, 14.1 off of turnovers and 10.3 on fast breaks.
New Orleans went 5-24 overall with a 3-15 record on the road a season ago. The Privateers shot 35.1% from the field and 26.8% from 3-point range last season.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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