Friday, 25 February 2022 07:50
by Jacob Vigil, MSW, Senior Research and Policy Analyst NM Voices for Chilren

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, New Mexico’s kids were beginning to see more plentiful opportunities to thrive. Our leaders had made improvements in public policies, including higher funding levels for cradle-to-career education and increases and expansions of tax credits for working families. Since the pandemic, federal relief funding and a better-then-expected revenue outlook have allowed lawmakers to make significant strategic investments that will result in a more equitable recovery.
There is one area, however, that has remained stubbornly intractable. For several decades, storefront lenders (who peddle installment loans, car title loans, and tax refund anticipation loans) have...