Aug 6, 2026 · 38 min · 11 segments
Last November, New Mexico became the first state in the country to launch free, universal child care for children from birth through age 13, regardless of household income. The program is exactly what…
Jacob VigilGuest
Fran QuigleyHost
You know, this, this effort, this, uh, campaign, this victory, uh, absolutely did not happen overnight.
Um, I think, uh, really a, a campaign, a movement, a coalition that kept its eyes focused on, uh, New Mexico children and families, uh, that centered the voice of the people closest to the challenges, um, some of whom you, you described, right? Um, that, so that those folks were leading the solution, uh, and focused on building lasting, uh, infrastructure, uh, of a, of a system, uh, that can work, uh, for children and families.
Uh, back in, uh, two thousand nine, twenty ten, New Mexico Voices for Children and a few other, uh, advocacy and organizing groups got together and, um, really kind of put their heads together to think about what, what would move the needle, what would make a difference for children, uh, in New Mexico, recognizing that we-- our state had long been ranked, uh, last in many rankings in terms of child wellbeing, right? We, we have a lot of, uh, persistent, um, historical generational poverty here, uh, a history of extraction and, uh, economic injustice and racial inequity, right? And so all of that was at the forefront of folks' minds.
And I would say that, um, you know, it really kind of began, uh, I, I [chuckles] use the term a revenue campaign because it was about, it was about identifying a source of funding, uh, and then, and the policy intervention, which we identified as early childhood care and education.
Uh, but looking really for those resources, right? And understanding, like, this isn't just about getting a, a, a small piece of, um, a pie.
You know, it's-- every state's different, but, you know, the budget pie, uh, often is very [chuckles] feels very finite-
... or very fluctuating, right? So, so yeah, um, the, the, the organizing, the folks who are, the folks who work in the field, right, childcare workers, educators, uh, and then a broad campaign that, that really brought in more folks, including immigrant rights organizers, youth, um, the sort of traditional early childhood advocates, but also many others who had not been in this space.
And, and really leveraging a, a, a legislative campaign, right, to get a, a constitutional resolution passed so it could go to the voters, which took, you know, about 10 years, [chuckles] uh, to get that passed.
Uh, and then, and then many things along the way in terms of strategy and compromises and, um, or, you know, decisions about, uh, or, uh, the C4 work, right? Uh, was a, a piece of it as well, the, the, um, changing the complexion of the legislature so that it was more amenable to eventually the passage.
But also, um, uh, accumulating sort of smaller victories along the way that ended up being really important stepping stones and building blocks toward the, the final goal, which was getting that, uh, funding from the Land Grant Permanent Fund, which the voters approved in twenty twenty-two by seventy percent.
Uh, and yeah, that, that will form the basis, but certainly was not the only or the last step in getting to universal childcare, uh, right? So that's, that's a whole other, um, sort of section of the story, uh, after that campaign, uh, up till this last year.
For folks who don't know, I assume you're referring to five oh one C4, which is when a nonprofit can do lobbying, which it sounds like that's a lot of what you do is lobbying legislators.
... my lobbying, lobbying is, is limited, but, um, but the C4, yeah, mostly referring to kind of like the electoral, uh- Campaign work.
You know, this, this effort, this, uh, campaign, this victory, uh, absolutely did not happen overnight.
Um, I think, uh, really a, a campaign, a movement, a coalition that kept its eyes focused on, uh, New Mexico children and families, uh, that centered the voice of the people closest to the challenges, um, some of whom you, you described, right? Um, that, so that those folks were leading the solution, uh, and focused on building lasting, uh, infrastructure, uh, of a, of a system, uh, that can work, uh, for children and families.
Uh, back in, uh, two thousand nine, twenty ten, New Mexico Voices for Children and a few other, uh, advocacy and organizing groups got together and, um, really kind of put their heads together to think about what, what would move the needle, what would make a difference for children, uh, in New Mexico, recognizing that we-- our state had long been ranked, uh, last in many rankings in terms of child wellbeing, right? We, we have a lot of, uh, persistent, um, historical generational poverty here, uh, a history of extraction and, uh, economic injustice and racial inequity, right? And so all of that was at the forefront of folks' minds.
And I would say that, um, you know, it really kind of began, uh, I, I [chuckles] use the term a revenue campaign because it was about, it was about identifying a source of funding, uh, and then, and the policy intervention, which we identified as early childhood care and education.
Uh, but looking really for those resources, right? And understanding, like, this isn't just about getting a, a, a small piece of, um, a pie.
You know, it's-- every state's different, but, you know, the budget pie, uh, often is very [chuckles] feels very finite-
... or very fluctuating, right? So, so yeah, um, the, the, the organizing, the folks who are, the folks who work in the field, right, childcare workers, educators, uh, and then a broad campaign that, that really brought in more folks, including immigrant rights organizers, youth, um, the sort of traditional early childhood advocates, but also many others who had not been in this space.
And, and really leveraging a, a, a legislative campaign, right, to get a, a constitutional resolution passed so it could go to the voters, which took, you know, about 10 years, [chuckles] uh, to get that passed.
Uh, and then, and then many things along the way in terms of strategy and compromises and, um, or, you know, decisions about, uh, or, uh, the C4 work, right? Uh, was a, a piece of it as well, the, the, um, changing the complexion of the legislature so that it was more amenable to eventually the passage.
But also, um, uh, accumulating sort of smaller victories along the way that ended up being really important stepping stones and building blocks toward the, the final goal, which was getting that, uh, funding from the Land Grant Permanent Fund, which the voters approved in twenty twenty-two by seventy percent.
Uh, and yeah, that, that will form the basis, but certainly was not the only or the last step in getting to universal childcare, uh, right? So that's, that's a whole other, um, sort of section of the story, uh, after that campaign, uh, up till this last year.
For folks who don't know, I assume you're referring to five oh one C4, which is when a nonprofit can do lobbying, which it sounds like that's a lot of what you do is lobbying legislators.
... my lobbying, lobbying is, is limited, but, um, but the C4, yeah, mostly referring to kind of like the electoral, uh- Campaign work.
Every episode on Radar is fully transcribed, speaker-labeled, and rich with metadata. Here is a taste of this one. Try Radar for free to see the rest.
3 of 6
Oil Revenue Funds Childcare
Permanent funds opened the door to childcare
A Decade-Long Campaign
Families closest to hardship helped shape solutions
Why Universality Protects Programs
Universal access can make programs harder politically
+3 more clips · 10 min 33 sec of audio in all
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
All 6 clips — the highlight moments, each cut as its own audio, with a title and a speaker
All 11 segments — the transcript broken into labeled sections, every ad read marked
All 25 topics — jump to every other episode discussing the same subject
Every related episode — other shows Radar links to this one
No account is needed to search Radar.
