NM lawmakers’ budget proposal doesn’t fully fund universal child care
—Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
State legislative leaders on Wednesday released a budget proposal that fails to fully fund one of outgoing New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s signature policies: universal child care for families with young children.
The governor announced last September that the state would eliminate income requirements for families to receive waivers for their portions — copayments — of child care costs. Previously, only families that earned less than 400% of the federal poverty level received copay waivers.
In enacting that change, New Mexico became the first state in the nation to offer free universal childcare.
The state Early Childhood Education and Care Department officially launched the program in November. Last month, Lujan Grisham’s office released a budget proposal that includes $163.2 million from the state’s recurring general fund to keep the program running through July 2027. That represents a 54.1% increase from the previous year.
But in a news conference Wednesday at the Roundhouse, legislative leaders released their own budget proposal, which only increases ECECD’s appropriations from the general fund by $13.7 million, or 4.5%. They also reiterated that while New Mexico is in healthy financial shape compared with other states, market conditions and other indicators point toward more fiscal restraint in the upcoming year.
In detailed budget proposal documents from the Legislative Finance Committee, which drafted the proposal, analysts predict that universal free childcare will “create additional demand for Childcare Assistance without the necessary revenues to implement this policy decision should more people apply and qualify for subsidies.”
Sen. George Muñoz (D-Gallup), who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, also noted Lujan Grisham’s budget proposal includes spending that exceeds her second and final term in office, which ends Dec. 31 of this year.
“This governor is trying to spend into the next administration’s money,” Muñoz said at the news conference.
An ECECD program analysis shows costs for universal child care increasing for several years — funding for which would mostly come from state coffers — from a little over $445 million this fiscal year to nearly $730 million by fiscal year 2029.
LFC Chair Rep. Nathan Small (D-Las Cruces) told Source New Mexico on Wednesday that “all options are on the table” when it comes to reaching a compromise with the governor on one of her signature policies.
He expects the Legislature and the governor to “work closely” in search of other funding sources or a “prioritization system” that ensures those who most need childcare get it as the program builds additional capacity and hires more childcare providers.
“I want to emphasize that this is a start and that a great deal of the work is to come during the session,” he said.
He defended the Legislature’s funding proposal as prudent in the face of a worsening economy, while also maintaining funding for childcare subsidies for those “those who need it most.”
“In a year where we have more pressures, more storm clouds, economically and otherwise on the horizon, and less money coming in…we have to be very focused on sustainability,” he said. “You know, two and three and four and more years from now, what this could look like.”
The governor’s Communications Director Michael Coleman told Source in an emailed statement that the governor was “disappointed” by the Legislature’s proposal.
“Governor Lujan Grisham is disappointed by the LFC’s early childhood budget proposal, but she is not surprised—and she is not deterred,” he said. “Executive and legislative budgets are rarely aligned initially. The Governor is confident the Legislature will fund universal childcare at levels that match the public’s strong support for this historic initiative.”
Small said at the news conference Wednesday changes contained in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” President Donald Trump signed last year created “national headwinds,” along with other factors outside the state’s control, that spell the end of a multi-year streak of sharply growing state budgets.
To that end, the LFC’s budget’s recommendation calls for spending $11.1 billion from the state’s general fund, a 2.5%, or $268 million, increase over FY26 planned spending.
The governor’s budget recommendation calls for a bigger increase in spending, largely due to universal child care costs. She hopes to spend $11.3 billion, a 4.6% increase over last year.
New Mexico remembers former lieutenant governor, musician Roberto Mondragón
—Santa Fe New Mexican
Former Lt. Gov. Roberto Mondragon has died at the age of 85. In addition to being a statesman, Mondragon was an accomplished musician and an advocate for the preservation of New Mexico's cultural traditions.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján was among the many who paid public tribute to Mondragon today. "New Mexico lost a giant today,” Lujan said. Lujan called Mondragon “a talented musician, tireless activist, and dedicated public servant who proudly served our state. His music and leadership enriched New Mexico’s culture and strengthened our communities."
Mondragon grew up in La Loma. A Democrat, he began his political career in 1967 in the state House of Representatives and served as lieutenant governor from 1971 to 1975 and again from 1979 to 1983. Both of those terms were under the administration of Gov. Bruce King.
Between those two terms, Mondragón served as director of the state Commission on Aging from 1975 to 1978. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who was once the director of what is now the state Aging and Long-Term Services Department, credited Mondragón with making the system what it is today. A 2021 legislative memorial honoring Mondragón described him as an "old-fashioned populist" and noted his commitment to "services for the aged, juvenile justice, migrant worker welfare and Hispanic civil rights."
However, Mondragón may have been just as well known for his accomplishments as a musician and his passion for preserving New Mexico's Hispanic traditions. His his first job was as a radio announcer on KABQ-AM, then a Spanish-language radio station in Albuquerque. He continued to work in Spanish radio into the 2000s, including with his bilingual show Aspectos Culturales. He recorded two albums in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Que Cante Mondragón and Amigo.
State GOP criticizes governor for delaying pick to fill vacant NM Senate seat – Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal
More than two months after a first-term Republican state senator's abrupt resignation, his GOP-leaning seat in southern New Mexico remains unfilled.
A top state Republican Party official on Tuesday accused Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham of "playing games" by waiting to pick a replacement for former Sen. Nicholas Paul of Alamogordo, saying the delay could affect planning for new public works projects within the district.
"There’s really no excuse for the governor to stall this nomination,” said state GOP Executive Director Leticia Muñoz.
"Gov. Lujan Grisham is making this political with the intention of disadvantaging our caucus prior to the most important legislative session in our state’s history," she added.
However, a spokeswoman for the Democratic governor said Lujan Grisham has completed interviews with the three individuals recommended for the vacant seat by county commissioners in the district.
The governor will make an announcement about the seat before the 30-day legislative session starts on Jan. 20, added Lujan Grisham spokeswoman Jodi McGinnis Porter.
Paul stepped down in October from the seat he'd been elected to a year earlier, citing family health issues as the reason for his abrupt resignation. The four-year term he was elected to runs through 2028.
Following a process laid out by the state Constitution, county commissioners from the three counties that Senate District 33 encompasses — Otero, Lincoln and Chaves — submitted names to the governor for consideration to fill the seat. But the Constitution does not spell out a specific timeline for making an appointment once names are received.
The three names submitted for the vacant seat are John Block (by Otero County), Mark Fischer (by Lincoln County) and Rex Wilson (by Chaves County). Block is a GOP state representative, meaning his House seat would subsequently have to be filled if he is chosen by the governor for the vacancy.
Fischer is a current Lincoln County commissioner, while Wilson is a rancher and former Lincoln County commissioner.
Meanwhile, the saga over the vacant Senate seat marks the second consecutive year a legislative seat has been empty entering the new year.
Last year, Lujan Grisham waited for roughly three months to fill a vacant House seat in west central New Mexico that had been held by Eliseo Alcon, a Democrat who stepped down due to health issues before his death in January 2025.
The governor ultimately chose Martha Garcia of Pine Hill to fill the seat. The former Cibola County commissioner joined the House more than halfway through last year's 60-day legislative session.
Regardless of who is appointed to the vacant Senate seat, Democrats will enter the 30-day session with a comfortable majority in the 42-member chamber. They currently outnumber Republicans by a 26-15 margin in the Senate.
The legislative session is expected to focus largely on budgetary matters, though health care access, crime and environmental issues will likely also prompt intense debate.
Clear backpacks now required at six APS middle schools – Nakayla McClelland, Albuquerque Journal
Bombs, knives and firearms.
These are just a few of the items middle school students said they are hoping will never make their way onto campus after five Albuquerque middle schools — Wilson, Kennedy, Hayes, Washington and Cleveland — opted in to a new policy that requires students to have clear backpacks in school.
"The move is aimed at enhancing safety and security at each of the schools," said Albuquerque Public Schools spokesperson Martin Salazar in a news release Tuesday.
Taylor Middle School has enforced its own clear backpack policy since 2021, while Del Norte High School is set to opt in to clear backpacks in August.
The security measures come amid an uptick in guns being found on APS campuses.
In the 2024-2025 school year, 15 firearms were found on middle and high school campuses in the district. Two weeks into the 2025-2026 school year, five guns were seized from students in a single day.
In a few cases, guns on campus have proved deadly.
Washington Middle School, one of the schools implementing the clear bag policy, had a shooting in 2021 that left 13-year-old Bennie Hargrove dead. Juan Saucedo Jr. had brought his father's gun to school and shot Hargrove in front of other classmates.
APS spent $90,000 on 7,000 clear backpacks — roughly $13 per bag — and distributed them to the schools, said Antonio Gonzales, deputy superintendent of operations, during a news conference Tuesday. Gonzales said that the money came from revenue from a print shop — Graphics Enterprise Services — run by APS, meaning that no capital or operational funds were used.
Each student will receive one backpack and must bring it to school each day. If they lose or damage it, parents are required to replace the bag at their own expense.
If a student brings a non-clear bag to the school, teachers will provide them with a clear grocery bag as a temporary replacement and students will be able to pick their backpack up from the front office at the end of the day.
APS Superintendent Gabriella Blakey said each school's instructional council — a governing body of each school comprised of teachers, parents and administration — made the decision to opt into the policy independently after reviewing the results of surveys that were taken by students, family and staff members.
"They were able to review all the surveys and really have a discussion on what they thought would be best for the school because they know their school community the best and they know that they're the ones that are implementing it," Blakey said. "It's really important that the school and the leaders of the school have a say in what they're doing if we want something to be effective."
When asked if APS would provide the data on the surveys, which were sent out in September, Blakey urged parents to reach out to their child's school principal and suggested news outlets file an Inspection of Public Records Act request in order to receive the data.
"I think it was good to give the community and staff a choice and it's only the first day, so we'll see how the kids react and whether or not people think it's effective," said Albuquerque Teachers Federation President Ellen Bernstein. "The issue of how we keep kids and adults safe at school is a very important and complex question and I think there is no simple answer."
WHAT DO THE KIDS SAY?
Some students at Cleveland Middle School were ready for the transition, donning clear backpacks with blue or purple straps for their first day of the spring semester. Others seemed hesitant to swap their books and personal items over into the see-through bags.
Teachers at the middle school spent the afternoon distributing the backpacks while speaking to students about the reasons why the school has chosen to implement the new policy. Shirley Muñoz, a seventh grade teacher at Cleveland, played music for her students as they grabbed their new backpacks in order to bring positivity to what some students felt like was an unhappy moment.
"I don't want them to feel like it's a punishment," she said.
Students spoke of other places where clear bags were required, such as APS athletics events, while working through their apprehensions behind the transition.
"My backpack shows my personality," one Cleveland student said, preferring her previous backpack over the new clear bags. "I'm worried about my friends getting bullied for having things like medications in their bag," said another student.
Students will be allowed to place decorative buttons on their backpack straps to add their own personal touches, but they will not be allowed to place stickers or anything that would cover the actual bag.
Michelle Nguyen, a sixth grader at Cleveland, said she was slightly annoyed and frustrated about the backpack change.
"I feel like I don't have any privacy and the backpack is pretty weak," she said. "I just saw someone who kind of broke theirs."
While the policy is being rolled out at APS middle schools currently, Del Norte is set to be the first high school to adopt it come August.
"I'm kind of on the fence about it," said Erica Lorenz, a parent with a student at Del Norte.
"It would definitely prevent weapons from being able to enter the school, but I have concerns about my daughter — she's going to have her personal hygiene products. Is that going to get searched? Is she going to have that out in the open? That's my only concern, really."
FUTURE APS SAFETY MEASURES
Other safety features may be coming to APS campuses in the future, though there has been no tentative date set yet.
In November, the APS school board voted to invest $4 million for weapons detection systems, though Blakey said "everything is still on the table."
"Metal detectors have had mixed reviews and they're extremely expensive," she said. "Nothing is really off the table."
She said the district is also looking into cameras with AI built into them that can detect weapons.
Bernstein said she was apprehensive about metal detector systems and said she does not think any student, teacher or parent would want to enter schools feeling like a "suspect at the beginning of every day."
Gonzales said APS has invested more than $60 million to upgrade safety infrastructures, such as fencing, cameras, heavy-duty locks for all classrooms, and a security command center that monitors all cameras and alarms for schools in real-time.
Other recent safety measures include the implementation of a redirector at all elementary schools — trained educational assistants who work with students exhibiting trouble behavior to help redirect those actions — and a campaign to remind students and parents of mental health resources available at all APS schools.