ADVOCACY NEWS: FOCUS ON NEW MEXICO
LUTHERAN ADVOCACY MINISTRY-NM (LAM-NM) FALL CONFERENCE, November 16, 2024
All are welcome to a preview of how we will work with the New Mexico Legislature in 2025 to improve the well-being of people in our state.
When: Saturday, November 16. We will begin at 9:00 a.m. and end with a luncheon.
Where: All Saints Lutheran Church. 4800 All Saints Road, NW, Albuquerque.
What: We will honor retiring State Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino, who has served 20 years as a legislative champion for just policies. Other legislators and policy advocates also will speak.
Watch for more information on conference registration and the LAM-NM Advocacy Agenda.
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Great News on Child Well-being and the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM)
“Poverty is a policy choice.” Emily Wildau of New Mexico Voices for Children made that statement at our Bread for the World meeting at All Saints on September 21. Emily, Senior Research and Analyst for Voices, reminded us that we, as advocates, can help our neighbors by supporting programs that bring them above the poverty level. Those programs work!
It is no news that New Mexico often shows up on national lists as having the highest rate of children living in poverty, but Emily Wildau asks us to apply the Supplemental Poverty Measure for a clearer picture. Considering the anti-poverty work taking place and the effects of the state Child Tax Credit, SNAP, etc., we see that New Mexico’s poverty rate for children drops from 27% to below 9%.1 That makes us—not 50th in the nation—but the 22nd.2 It is only when these programs are allowed to lapse that New Mexicans again drop below the poverty line.
Let’s continue advocating for the Child Tax Credit and adequate SNAP benefits to help New Mexico’s children. LAM-NM has supported the various changes in tax policy championed by Voices and is a member of the NM Fairness Project coalition to move towards a more progressive tax policy. Starting in January, we can support their work by answering LAM-NM’s alerts to contact our legislators on crucial bills. We can make the policy choice to end poverty.
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1 and 2. For more information on the Supplemental Poverty Measure as applied in New Mexico, see Daniel Montano’s article, linked below. Mr. Montano is a KUNM reporter with the Public Health, Poverty, and Equity project.
Judy Messal
Revised