Tara Jaramillo, candidate for New Mexico State Rep. District 38

Name: Tara Jaramillo

Age: 54

Party: Democrat

Occupation: President, Positive Outcomes, Inc

Relevant Experience: Current representative for New Mexico's 38th state district.

Personal: Tara is a mother of four and a speech Language Pathologist. Twenty five years ago she founded Positive Outcomes, Inc which provides healthcare, education and advocacy services to children and their families.  She graduated with a Bachelors in education and a Masters in speech language pathology from NM State University. Currently, Tara serves on the Socorro Consolidated School Board and in 2022, she was elected to the State House of Representatives where she serves on the House Health and Human Services Committee and House Appropriation and Finance.

Website: https://www.tarajaramillofornm.com/

Tara Jaramillo has served as State Representative for New Mexico's 38th District since 2023. Here are her answers to KVIA's questions regarding her candidacy.

School safety is an issue top of mind for many New Mexicans. What policies will you work on to protect New Mexico students?

As a member of the Socorro Consolidated School Board and the proud creator of a local business that helps provide services to children with disabilities, the safety of our children is incredibly near and dear to me — not only as a state legislator but personally. We must ensure every school has the resources to provide security personnel where appropriate. 

I fully support a bill to enact statewide emergency communications within all of our schools, similar to what Albuquerque uses now, which would require a panic button app for every New Mexico school building to connect live video feeds from those buildings to those agencies outside for help in the event of an emergency.  A big part of my energy at the state Capitol is ensuring that our district, and rural areas all throughout our region and our state, receive as much attention as the bigger cities. That’s important for school safety resources and it’s important for school quality — which means we need teachers to be paid well, we need administration to be cutting red tape, and we need parents who are involved in and committed to their children’s health and wellbeing. I believe the more we invest in our teachers, and the more we invest in every aspect of our schools, the safer and healthier our children will be.

Do you have any plans aimed at improving mental healthcare access in New Mexico?

I have spent my life fighting to expand access to and improve the quality of care for vulnerable populations, particularly children, in our communities. And since I’ve had the honor to serve my home community in the Legislature, I have used my voice to bring forward numerous proposals that would lead to more mental and behavioral health care including HB 358 Housing and Behavioral Health services, HB 420 Reduce Adverse Childhood Experiences, HM 5 Dev. Disability and Mental Health Task Force and HB 298Setvice Members Suicide Prevention, I will continue to work to expand the rural health care tax credit and support scholarship and loan-repayment programs for college students studying to enter these mental and behavioral health care fields so that we can reduce wait times and increase the number of high-quality providers in our state, particularly in rural areas.

What steps should the state take to address inflation?

Cut taxes, cut taxes, cut taxes. And go after businesses that are price-gouging families in our community. Too many families in our district have told me they are having a hard time getting by with the bills. This is an incredibly important issue. New Mexico families work hard and no one who is contributing to our economy with their hard work should be forced to make these tough decisions about what basic necessities their families can afford. So we must lower the gross receipts tax. We must cut taxes on Social Security. And I firmly support exempting income tax on military retirees. I also support reforming tax credits that benefit only the wealthiest of New Mexicans: Our tax code should first and foremost benefit the hardworking families who are the backbone of our communities, not the wealthy people living in the big cities or tourists. 

Immigration continues to be a subject of debate for New Mexicans. How should the state respond to the crisis?

What New Mexico needs to do is be proactive. We do not need our southern border to become politicized like the situation in Texas. Unfortunately there are too many politicians and candidates who want to use “the border” as a talking point to divide our communities and score points with their base. I support legal immigration and I believe immigrants make our communities better and our economy stronger. I especially support efforts at the federal and state levels to keep our communities safe from illegal drugs and human trafficking. 

As the cost of living rises, how will you help New Mexicans make ends meet?

We can cut the gross receipts tax and remove the taxes on Social Security as well as removing income taxes for military retirees. I believe the state government can and should be providing more tax rebates and refunds to New Mexicans directly — putting money back in their pockets so that they can provide for their families. I also support investments that will help grow our economy and expand career pathways for more young New Mexicans to enter the workforce here in their home state, especially in rural communities. So I believe the state should make more investments in the industries of the future, including clean energy and broadband, while also making sure our education system is preparing students now and into the future for high-paying careers in those fields of work.

What changes, if any, would you like to make to New Mexico’s current abortion laws?

I believe very strongly in a woman’s reproductive freedom. No one from the government should ever be involved in a citizen’s decision about when and how to start a family. I will always aggressively defend a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body, and I will oppose every effort to politicize, demonize and restrict women’s bodily freedom. Unfortunately my opponent in this race has one of the most extreme anti-reproductive freedom positions on women’s health care of any candidate in the country. She would actually remove constitutional protections that women have fought for and would take our state backwards. Women deserve better, whether they are mothers, want to be mothers some day in the future, or whether they choose not to have children at all for whatever personal reasons. Furthermore, I believe in and support our state making significant new investments in prenatal and maternal health care to support expecting mothers and new mothers. 

What is the most pressing need in District 38?

The rising costs of living, public safety and the quality of our schools are all equally important. I believe as a state representative I have been able to work across the aisle and respond to the needs of my neighbors in our community by listening to their concerns and working on solutions that benefit everyone.

Why are you the best candidate for this office?

My entire adult life has been dedicated to helping vulnerable people. I may have been elected to office but I do not consider myself a politician. I’m not interested in making headlines or scoring “points” or engaging in political back-and-forth arguments. I’ve worked across the aisle as a legislator and I’m willing to compromise with any member of any party as long as the decision we reach ultimately represents what the people want. Unfortunately my opponent in this race has been a lifelong politician. She tried to run for governor, and when that didn’t work out, she came straight back to politics. Meanwhile I work for my neighbors and my passion is being able to help solve the problems affecting our community. My experience working with children with disabilities has given me a unique perspective on the opportunities and challenges that our school and health care systems provide for us here in New Mexico. I greatly look forward to the opportunity to keep working on moving our great state and our beautiful community forward.