Guest commentary by Paul Gessing — Even during what has been a very busy summer news cycle New Mexico’s recently created universal “free” childcare system has remained in the news. National media cheered the program’s creation and the first-in-America expansion of government, but the true story of New Mexico’s universal “free” childcare program is more troubling than the media have let on.
Commentary
Paul Gessing is president of the Rio Grande Foundation, an Albuquerque-based think tank focused on the importance of individual freedom, limited government and economic opportunity.
“Free” universal childcare is estimated to cost taxpayers $850 million annually with the price tag rising quickly over time according to the Legislative Finance Committee. The first “dirty secret” of this program is that none of it would be possible without revenues generated by New Mexico’s oil and gas boom.
Second, New Mexico’s universal “free” childcare entitlement did not follow the path outlined in your civics textbooks or Schoolhouse Rock videos. It was created not by the Legislature, but by the governor acting alone. She did this on November 1, 2025, while the Legislature didn’t act until the 2026 session.
The governor outlined her plans for taxpayer-funded universal daycare in New Mexico on September 8, 2025. Another “secret” is that New Mexico already had “free” childcare available for families making up to 400% of the federal policy level ($132,000 in 2026). The governor acted to make it “universal.
A fourth secret is the precedent set by Lujan Grisham’s actions. Due to the sketchy nature of the program’s creation, a lawsuit was filed by defeated GOP gubernatorial candidate Duke Rodriguez and former State Senator (and attorney) Jacob Candelaria, a Democrat. After winning in district court, the suit was overturned on appeal. New Mexico’s top court refused to even hear the case. Candelaria immediately noted the import of the court’s inaction saying, “Future governors could use the Supreme Court decision to exercise broad executive power without legislative approval. That’s terrifying.”
It should be terrifying. During her 2022 reelection campaign Lujan Grisham did not advocate for universal childcare. In fact, the concept was not introduced as a bill at all in sessions prior to the governor’s announcement that made it universal.
The fifth and final secret is that just a few months after its creation, Lujan Grisham’s “universal” childcare was found to be running a deficit of approximately $83 million. Recently, two whistleblowers have come forward saying they were retaliated against for calling out these deficits. Carmel Pacheco-Aragon, the Early Childhood Education and Care Department’s chief financial officer, filed a suit alleging she was placed on administrative leave after reporting an $83 million shortfall for fiscal year 2026 and warning about improper fund transfers without legislative approval. The Department’s former budget director, Kimberly Gonzales, filed a subsequent lawsuit claiming she was wrongfully terminated for publicly reporting that the department was facing a $258 million shortfall, partially due to the state’s new universal childcare program.
Clearly, Lujan Grisham did not want the public to know the program she created on her own was running massive deficits. So, she took retribution on some of the best-placed people that she’d hired to manage it and who blew the whistle. Once again, Lujan Grisham is getting her way by abusing her power (in multiple ways) and setting a precedent that allows future governors to engage in the same behaviors.
The incentive, ratified by the State’s highest court, to abuse the law in support of an unproven and at best questionable policy is one of MANY reasons why New Mexico is ranked poorly when compared with other states. New Mexico Democrats LOVE to talk about “no kings” when the perceived “king” is in Washington, D.C. They have a hypocritical tendency to not speak out when the “king” is here in Santa Fe and a member of their own party.
