Sherry Robinson
All She Wrote

Back in September, the governor announced that on Nov. 1 New Mexico would become the first state to offer universal child care. We made national headlines. It would be a huge benefit to working families and employers, of course, but legislative budget makers are starting to ask hard questions about costs. And they should.

This is when I like to remind readers that I’m not Hard Hearted Hannah. When I was a single mom on reporter wages, day care took such a big bite out of my paycheck that I had almost nothing left after rent and groceries. I didn’t resent the day care providers because I knew they were just trying to survive.

So I’ve been down that road and see the need, but I have a few problems with the idea.

Under this program, the state will offer free child care to everyone, no matter how much they make. It will save families an average of $12,000 a year per child. What we’ve had since 2021 is a cap of 400% of the federal poverty level, or about $120,000 a year for a family of four.

New Mexico has nowhere near the capacity to add the predicted 12,000 babies and toddlers to a program that now serves 27,000 kids. Typically there are three applications for every opening, and some areas are day-care deserts. But under the new program local governments and schools can apply for low-interest loans to expand or create new facilities. Elizabeth Groginsky, secretary of the Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD), projects 55 new child care centers and 1,000 new in-home providers.

Child-care workers will make more money (we hope). Reimbursement rates to providers, according to the state’s news release, “will rise to reflect the true cost of care. Programs that commit to paying entry-level staff a minimum of $18 per hour and offer 10 hours of care per day, five days a week, will receive an incentive rate.” Groginsky expects better pay to help recruit the additional 5,000 early childhood professionals that will be needed.

The governor intends to pay for all this from the Early Childhood Education Trust Fund. Created by a Constitutional Amendment in 2022, it’s ballooned from $300 million to $10 billion. (Thank you, oil and gas industry.) In addition, legislators increased the department’s budget by $113 million to $995 million; of that, $463 million is for child care.

Notice that the governor didn’t ask lawmakers for their blessings before launching the new program, but she’s counting on their support. And the ask just increased. The department raised reimbursement rates following feedback from day-care providers, which bumped up its funding request for the next legislative session from $120 million to $156 million, reported the Albuquerque Journal.

Rep. Nathan Small, chair of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee, said the ECECD budget will get close scrutiny.

Sen. George Muñoz, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, has a problem with the agencies’ approach to funding. “They announce initiatives but don’t know how to pay for them and leave it up to us,” he told me. “They make the Legislature the bad guy.”

When I spoke to Rep. Patty Lundstrom recently, she brought up universal child care and asked, “How are we supposed to budget for that?” As co-chair of the legislative Federal Funding Stabilization Subcommittee, she was astounded that the governor would kick off universal child care or any other new program at a time when the state faces daunting demands due to federal funding cuts.

As I write this, the state is scrambling to protect 450,000 New Mexicans who will lose SNAP (food stamp) benefits. Because of the federal government shutdown, states are out of money, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has refused to use its reserves to extend aid.

I agree with these legislators who know they’re in for a difficult session and a lot of tough decisions. I also question why I as a taxpayer should subsidize the day care of people making more money than I do.

What we see here is a governor heading into her final year as the state’s chief executive. She has her legacy in mind. Universal child care would be a dandy legacy during normal times. These are not normal times.

Sherry Robinson is a longtime New Mexico reporter and editor. She has worked in Grants, Gallup, the Albuquerque Journal, New Mexico Business Weekly and Albuquerque Tribune. She is the author of four books. Her columns won first place in 2024 from New Mexico Press Women.

Cal Thomas

In 2018, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 to strike down a federal law banning sports gambling, thus allowing individual states to decide whether to allow it, or not. It didn’t take a genius to predict what might happen, especially when politicians can find new sources of revenue beyond income, property and sales taxes.

Last week, more than 30 people were indicted as part of a national sports betting scandal involving high-profile figures, including Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier. Billups was charged in a scheme involving rigged poker games, and Rozier was charged for allegedly providing insider information to an illegal sports betting ring. A former player, Damon Jones, was also indicted for sharing insider information. The FBI said arrests were made in 11 states with more arrests likely to come.

What may have surprised many were allegations that these schemes are linked to three different Mafia families. Isn’t the Mafia the stuff of movies like “Goodfellas” and “The Godfather”? People may have thought crime families had been put out of business years ago by federal agents like Eliot Ness, then leader of a Chicago team known as the “Untouchables” that took on Al Capone. A TV series by that name ran from 1959 to 1963 and starred Robert Stack as Ness. The series captivated American audiences.

Three of the five crime families allegedly involved in sports betting and rigged poker games are familiar to people with long memories: the Gambinos, the Bonnanos and the Genoveses families.

The National Basketball Association, which has Fan Duel and Draft Kings as its “official” sports betting partners, issued a statement following the indictments. It read in part: “We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority.”

The “integrity of our game” was the first thing to go. It will be difficult to get it restored.

One wonders how people making millions of dollars would be enticed by offers of a few hundred thousand dollars to do something they had to know was against the law. Perhaps it was the thrill one can get from such behavior. Perhaps it was the instant cash delivered to their doorsteps. Whatever it was is crazy stupid.

Not all vices can be regulated. Prohibition is usually presented as the worst example. While not everyone conforms to every law (if they did the prisons would be empty), the law sets a standard which tells people what history and societies have shown is best for them and the nation.

Gamblers, like the poor, we have always had with us, but when gambling (now called “gaming” to supposedly make it more palatable) becomes the norm and especially when it is advertised during breaks in NBA and NFL games, it sends a message that this vice is acceptable, even recommended. Putting in small print on the screen “Gambling problem?” and an 1-800 number to dial is not a quick fix for those who can’t afford to lose the rent or food money.

Cincinnati Reds star player Pete Rose was banned from baseball in 1989 for betting on games when he managed the club. After denying the allegation for years, Rose eventually admitted the charge which ended his eligibility for Hall of Fame consideration. He will be re-considered for admission when the special committee that decides who gets in meets in December 2027.

Given the scandal involving the NBA, with possibly more indictments to come, Rose should be granted admission to the Hall and Congress should consider more regulation of the gambling industry that could pass Supreme Court muster.

Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book “A Watchman in the Night: What I’ve Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America” (HumanixBooks).