Additional 1% from LGPF will help kids
How long can we rank near the bottom in child wellbeing?
In August 2020, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, responding to the national reckoning that began with the alarming (killing) of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police, created an Advisory Council on Racial Justice with three subcommittees. The governor chose council members based on their leadership and knowledge of and experience with the interlocking systems of discrimination and unequal resources that thwart Black, Indigenous and other communities of color.
In early December, the Council on Racial Justice provided more than 50 recommendations to the governor, including a recommendation strongly urging the governor to support HJR1, the proposed constitutional amendment to invest an additional 1% from the Land Grant Permanent Fund proceeds to pay for early childhood education programs. When this amendment was first proposed in 2010, New Mexico ranked 46th in the nation for child wellbeing, as measured by the Kids Count report, but fell to 50th place in 2018 where it continues to rank dead last among the states.
The governor campaigned on this issue and over the past two years has supported HJR1. When the council presented its HJR1 recommendation, she readily accepted it, identifying it as one of her priorities.
This proposal has been debated and blocked for years, but this year the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the national anti-racism movement, and the governor’s enthusiasm have created new momentum and urgency for its passage.
The state’s high COVID rates have added to the burdens of New Mexico families. The December 2020 Kids Count COVID-19 report identifies critical “pain points” for families, especially families of color that have been disproportionately hurt.
The pandemic will have dire and lasting effects on babies being born today, intensifying the economic and social inequities. New Mexico must respond by prioritizing racial equity and helping families achieve financial stability, but to do so many desperately need home visitation, child care and pre-K education.
Without early childhood education programs, the projected lower educational attainment of babies born during the pandemic will further decrease health outcomes and political participation and increase crime and incarceration rates.
Rep. Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, has said that the George Floyd movement awakened the nation’s conscience about racial injustice, and New Mexico is the only state that has money on a billion-dollar scale to address inequities such as the profound educational needs of its children. Despite the severe jolt to the state’s economy, the LGPF has grown to over $20 billion.
The administration of the LGPF has not been equitable, consistently shortchanging current beneficiaries, according to Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard. Specifically, the Generational Equity Index is a metric developed by the State Investment Council to ensure that benefits will be distributed equally between current and future generations.
However, distributions strongly favor future cohorts and will continue to do so, even after the 1% increase proposed by HJR1. Moreover, according to Rep. Antonio
“Moe” Maestas, D-Albuquerque, the five-year rolling average used to calculate annual distributions will amount in 2020 — as in previous years — to about 4.1% rather than the full 5% mandated by the Constitution.
About 80% of children under the age of 3 in New Mexico are children of color, the target population for early childhood education programs. Such programs are one of the most effective strategies for reducing educational inequities and those linked to the social determinants of health.
The history of New Mexico’s statehood and the lock-box constraints placed on the LGPF tell a story of skepticism and bias expressed in Congress and national newspapers about the ability and the right of New Mexicans to control land and resources.
The issues facing New Mexico because of the compounding effects of the pandemic bring this skepticism into focus and the Council on Racial Justice poses this moral question: Can New Mexico afford not to invest 1% of the proceeds of this massive fund in its children of need, most of whom are children of color?