House Appropriations & Finance Committee debates New Mexico's universal childcare budget; adopts LFC recommendation

Santa Fe — The House Appropriations & Finance Committee on Tuesday heard a two-part briefing on the Early Childhood Education and Care Department's FY27 request and the state's recent move to universal childcare before adopting the Legislative Finance Committee's (LFC) budget recommendation.

Secretary Graginsky of the Early Childhood Education and Care Department summarized the executive proposal and the department's priorities: maintaining universal access, expanding infant and toddler care, growing the workforce and implementing a wage scale and career lattice. "We are building an early childhood infrastructure that will last for generations, 1 that keeps universal, comprehensive access strong and sustainable for years," she said.

LFC analyst Dr. Allegra Hernandez and Kelly Flint presented the committee with the LFC's findings and alternatives. Hernandez noted that the early childhood budget grew from about $200 million in FY12 to roughly $918 million in FY26, and that expanding eligibility can change who benefits: "every time there's an expansion, the state begins to serve less of our poorest and at-risk families in order to serve higher income families," she said. Flint clarified the LFC's position: "the LFC recommendation does not cut the agency budget. It is a 5% increase over the current operating budget," she told lawmakers.

Committee members pressed for specifics about enrollment, cost and capacity. Ranking Member Chatfield asked whether the program had "doubled the amount of children we're paying for" or simply shifted who the state pays for; Graginsky said the state is now paying for just over 10,000 children it had not been paying for in October and that nearly 40,000 children were enrolled as of Jan. 15. On unit cost, ECECD estimated an average state cost of about $14,000 per child; for a full-time infant slot at an enhanced Star‑5 provider, staff gave a rough figure of $2,500 per month (about $30,000 annually), with higher contracted infant/toddler slot rates discussed for targeted pilots.

Members also debated policy choices behind the budget: some urged guardrails to ensure the lowest-income children remain prioritized as eligibility expands, while others raised philosophical alternatives such as paid family leave. Representative Pettigrew and others expressed skepticism that growing the program has moved key long-term outcome measures sharply enough to justify further increases without clearer metrics.

ECECD and LFC staff highlighted policy levers lawmakers might use to protect equity: implementing tiered eligibility and enrollment priority for the youngest and lowest-income children, using co-pays on higher-income households, and phasing expansions to grow supply. Flint noted some states use waiting lists and tiered systems to preserve slots for the most at-risk families.

The committee moved to adopt the LFC recommendation for the ECECD budget. Vice Chair Dixon moved to "adopt the LFC recommendation," a motion seconded by Ranking Member Chatfield; Representative Pettigrew was recorded in opposition before the motion carried according to the transcript. The record does not include a formal roll-call tally in the hearing transcript.

Public commenters including providers, parent advocates and nonprofit representatives urged recurring funding for the wage and career ladder, additional investments in infant/toddler supply and information-technology improvements for enrollment and reporting. Several providers said wage investments are essential to sustain supply and quality.

What's next: committee members and agency staff said they will continue working together on statutory language and guardrails to protect low-income enrollment and to refine the five-year finance projections for the early childhood trust fund. The committee recessed to other business and scheduled follow-up meetings between legislators and agency staff.