New Mexico’s historic move to give universal child care to parents in the state is paid for by an oil and gas windfall

An ambitious universal child care program aimed at fully footing the bill for working families across New Mexico is being enshrined into law, with state legislators making good on promises by Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to make the state the first in the nation to offer such a program to families of all income levels.

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.

Read more: https://fortune.com/2026/02/20/new-mexico-universal-child-care-oil-and-gas-lujan-grisham/