Strong Families New Mexico Legislative Report Card

The Strong Families New Mexico Report Card seeks to inform policy makers, organizations, and community members of both the policies that promote equitable outcomes for all families and the policies that harm families.

The Report Card examines 18 pieces of legislation introduced during the 2015 legislative session and grades individual legislators. The legislation selected reflects a wide range of issues, affects families of many formations, and connects to our Strong Families policy criteria. We evaluated legislation in five categories: civil rights and criminal justice, economic justice, education equity, health equity, and anti-family.

• Does the legislation recognize and support families of all formations?
• Does the legislation help to promote or achieve equitable outcomes for all families?
• Will the legislation expand government programs and services that support family wellbeing and the wellbeing of individuals within families?
• Does the legislation remove barriers that harm families in accessing government programs and services?
• Will the legislation protect families and the individuals that comprise them against discrimination, profiling, and harassment?

The legislature can do a great deal more if it wants to support families in New Mexico. Of the 18 pieces of legislation featured in this report card, only four bills that support families were enacted into law. Some of these bills will expand government programs and services that support the wellbeing of family members, such as expanding Medicaid coverage for people who are incarcerated and increasing bullying prevention programs across the state. Other bills that passed will provide online voter registration and protect families from losing property that previously could be seized without a conviction. Policies like these address current issues and put New Mexico on the path to getting the rights and resources that our families need to survive and thrive.

Strong Families New Mexico builds power with the community by working with community leaders and members, partner organizations, and decision makers to share lived experiences and inform policy. In informing policy we want to both lift up policies that recognize and support families and address and reverse policies that hurt families. Together we can advance policies and practices that support the many types of families that are struggling to build a better life for themselves and the next generations. Together we can create a new vision for all families in New Mexico.

• All Families Matter Coalition
• Encuentro
• Enlace Comunitario
• Equality New Mexico
• El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos
• Families United for Education
• Native American Voters Alliance
• New Mexico Asian Family Center
• New Mexico Dreamers in Action
• New Mexico Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
• NM Forum for Youth in Community
• Organizers in the Land of Enchantment
• Tewa Women United
• Together for Brothers Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico
• University of New Mexico Community Engagement Center
• University of New Mexico LGBTQ Resource Center
• YWCA Middle Rio Grande