"As parents across the nation grapple with crippling daycare bills that threaten to keep them at home and out of the workforce, political leaders from New York to San Francisco have been angling to expand access to free and subsidized care. The political stakes are high as the potential for budget uncertainties and fraud looms large. California has opted to eliminate copayments for some families, while Washington and Oregon cap what families pay. In Vermont, a payroll tax on employers funds child care subsidies."
"In New Mexico, the plan relies heavily on the financial windfall from oil and gas production - including earnings from a recently minted $10 billion trust fund for early childhood education. It's a delicate balance for a progressive governor who initially set out to rein in the industry. "I think you're going to see more states look for ways to do it," the governor said Thursday. "It's really a workforce engine, while paying real respect to the affordability affordability crisis that families have.""
New Mexico passed a universal child care law that aims to fully cover child care costs for working families of all income levels. The program relies heavily on oil-and-gas revenue and earnings from a newly created $10 billion early childhood education trust. State leaders compared approaches in other states that eliminated or capped copayments and used payroll taxes. Lawmakers added fiscal guardrails, allowing copayments if public finances deteriorate and requiring 90 days' notice to families. The legislature allocated up to $700 million more over five years to the child care assistance program and tied cost-sharing decisions to new annual reporting.
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