New Mexico's "Free" Childcare an attempt to cover for failures

By Paul Gessing

Gov. Lujan Grisham recently announced a new plan for taxpayers to fund "free" childcare for all New Mexicans regardless of income levels. The Gov. portrayed this as a big win for New Mexico families. What she hasn't emphasized is that New Mexico has had taxpayer-funded "free" childcare in place since 2022. Until now that program has been limited to families with incomes up to 400% of the federal poverty

According to federal poverty guidelines 400% of the poverty level allows a family of three to earn up to $106,600 annually and be eligible for the existing "free" childcare program. Since US Census Bureau data places median household income in New Mexico at $62,268, that means this new "free" childcare entitlement will benefit the most well-off New Mexicans (making amounts above $106,600.

"Free" childcare isn't cheap. The existing program costs New Mexicans $463 million each year. Making the program universal will cost another $120 million annually with an additional one-time capital expenditure of $20 million.

Why would a "progressive" governor of one of America's poorest states decide to help people at the highest income levels with a massive new childcare subsidy?

That's what we're wondering as well. Our hypothesis: Lujan Grisham has been in office since 2019 and has failed to improve conditions for children in the state. In her waning days in office she is looking for positive headlines to cover up for those failures.

What failures?

For starters, the 2025 edition of Annie E. Casey Foundation's annual "Kids Count" report once again found New Mexico to be ranked 50th nationally in terms of conditions for children.

New Mexico is also losing its young people. According to the US Census Bureau, between 2020 and 2024 New Mexico lost the 2nd-highest percentage of its population aged 0-18. New Mexico saw a decline of 5.9%. Only Illinois lost a higher percentage of youth at 6.1%.

When she took office Lujan Grisham pledged that New Mexico would embark on a "moon shot" for education. Sadly, in both 2022 and 2024, the last two cycles of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), New Mexico scored worst in the nation in all categories: 4th grade reading and math and 8th grade reading and math.

In early September of this year, New Mexico's CYFD Secretary Terresa Casado abruptly retired after 5 child deaths under state care, amid criticism and calls for Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham to remove her. Even members of Lujan Grisham's own Democratic Party have spoken out. Attorney General Raul Torrez who launched an investigation in the wake of the death of a four-month-old child in June said, "This is just another example of the state failing in its most fundamental obligation."

This Administration's failures to improve outcomes for its children are even more frustrating because Lujan Grisham has had few financial constraints on her during her eight years in office. Government spending has grown by 75 percent.

The State's oil and gas boom has offered the state a nearly unprecedented opportunity to spend money as politicians like Lujan Grisham and the state's "progressive" Democrat controlled Legislature see fit. But spending more money hasn't worked for our children. In fact, we'd argue that the problem isn't solvable by more government programs. We need instead to tackle poverty and overall societal issues by diversifying our economy and reforming existing programs like our education system.  

This expansion of the State's already generous "free" childcare program to wealthy New Mexicans may generate national headlines and plaudits for Gov. Lujan Grisham. But the track record of New Mexico's government in delivering services in ways that help intended beneficiaries lead better lives, is poor to say the least.

Paul Gessing is president of New Mexico's Rio Grande Foundation. The Rio Grande Foundation is an independent, nonpartisan, tax-exempt research and educational organization dedicated to promoting prosperity for New Mexico based on principles of limited government, economic freedom and individual responsibility.