NM has highest rate of young children receiving SNAP benefits in nation

ALBUQUERQUE - A report released the week of Oct. 11 by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities calls the food assistance program Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly called food stamps, the single largest provider of nutrition assistance to children in struggling families across the country.

The report also shows that 46 percent of New Mexico’s young children—ages zero to four—receive SNAP benefits. That’s the highest rate in the nation.

“Getting a healthy, adequate diet is especially important for our youngest children, because nutrition plays a huge role in brain development,”...

As you read this, the nation celebrates Hispanics and their contributions to the United States during National Hispanic Heritage Month. The recognition runs from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15.

The celebration began in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week, under then-President Lyndon B. Johnson, and was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period beginning Sept. 15. Those 30 days are especially important for Gallup and McKinley County, as the city and its surrounding confines have significant Hispanic populations.

Hispanics celebrate the 30-day interval, but who celebrates with them? Who among us joins in and recognizes the tremendous value of America’s — and New...

Sometimes it just takes a fresh perspective — and expertise in lean manufacturing — to help a respected manufacturer streamline productivity and increase profitability.

The owners of Rader Awning & Upholstery Inc. requested that type of feedback when their 70-year-old company, New Mexico’s leading supplier of quality custom awnings and shades, faced challenges satisfying growing demand.

The company asked New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership to evaluate its operations and offer ideas for improvement. And the rewards of the collaboration were tangible: Productivity improved by 20 percent per salesperson, production defects decreased by 15 percent and installation...

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The New Mexico that could be

New Mexico can be a place where communities thrive and there is opportunity for everyone to build a secure future.

We know what it takes to create strong communities — good schools, roads, libraries, and so forth. Today, though, our budget prioritizes tax breaks instead that starve our state of the revenue it needs to fund critical programs and services. This is the wrong choice for New Mexico’s future.

To afford the things we need, it will take a more sensible approach to revenue. We’re losing millions of dollars in tax breaks for powerful special interests that are inserted into the tax code. When we clean up our tax code, we’ll...