New Mexico increases child care funding, still highest in US

By CEDAR ATTANASIO
Associated Press / Report for America

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico is increasing child care subsidies that are already the most generous and broadly available in the U.S. Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says the state will start waiving child care copays to middle-income families starting May 1. Child care is basically free in the state for low-income families. The expansion of the program is funded with about $40 million in one-time federal funds. Since last June, New Mexico had offered the most generous subsidies to the broadest set of families in the country. The new announcement means that child care will not only be cheaper but basically free for families of four earning around $100,000.