Think New Mexico

EDUCATION AND PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH

DURING THE 2022 LEGISLATIVE SESSION, THINK NEW MEXICO DRAFTED AND SUCCESSFULLY CHAMPIONED THE ENACTMENT OF LEGISLATION REDUCING THE MAXIMUM ANNUAL INTEREST RATE ON SMALL LOANS FROM 175% TO 36%. BASED ON DATA FROM THE STATE REGULATION AND LICENSING DEPARTMENT, WE ESTIMATE THAT THIS REFORM WILL SAVE 240,000 LOW-INCOME NEW MEXICANS APPROXIMATELY 175 MILLION A YEAR. THINK NEW MEXICO ALSO SUCCESSFULLY ADVOCATED FOR THE PUBLIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT TO ADD FINANCIAL LITERACY TO THE STATE'S EDUCATION STANDARDS. BEFORE THIS SUCCESSFUL EFFORT, NEW MEXICO WAS ONE OF FIVE STATES THAT HAD FAILED TO INCLUDE FINANCIAL LITERACY IN ITS K-12 EDUCATION STANDARDS. THE STATE HAS NOW ADOPTED 33 SPECIFIC FINANCIAL LITERACY BENCHMARKS, 25 OF WHICH CAME DIRECTLY FROM THINK NEW MEXICO'S RECOMMENDATIONS. IN 2021, THINK NEW MEXICO ALSO CONTINUED OUR ONGOING EFFORT TO IMPROVE RETIREMENT SECURITY FOR ALL NEW MEXICANS. THINK NEW MEXICO LAUNCHED THIS INITIATIVE IN 2019 WITH THE RELEASE OF A POLICY REPORT TITLED, "SOLVING THE HIDDEN CRISIS: ACHIEVING RETIREMENT SECURITY FOR ALL NEW MEXICANS," WHICH RECOMMENDED THREE MAJOR REFORMS: REPEALING THE STATE'S INCOME TAX ON SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS; ENSURING THAT EVERY PRIVATE SECTOR WORKER IN NEW MEXICO HAS ACCESS TO A RETIREMENT ACCOUNT THAT THEY CAN CONTRIBUTE TO USING AUTOMATIC PAYROLL DEDUCTIONS; AND STABILIZING THE STATE'S PUBLIC PENSION FUNDS. THROUGHOUT 2021, THINK NEW MEXICO ASSISTED WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WORK AND SAVE ACT, WHICH WE WON PASSAGE OF DURING THE 2020 LEGISLATIVE SESSION AND WHICH WILL CREATE A SYSTEM OF VOLUNTARY STATE- SPONSORED INDIVIDUAL RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR SELF- EMPLOYED NEW MEXICANS AND THOSE WORKING IN JOBS THAT DO NOT OFFER RETIREMENT BENEFITS TO EASILY SAVE FOR RETIREMENT. DURING THE 2022 LEGISLATIVE SESSION, THINK NEW MEXICO SUCCESSFULLY CHAMPIONED THE ENACTMENT OF LEGISLATION REPEALING THE TAX ON SOCIAL SECURITY INCOME FOR ALL MIDDLE AND LOWER INCOME SENIORS (THOSE WITH INCOMES UNDER 100,000 AS INDIVIDUALS OR 150,000 AS COUPLES). THIS WILL SAVE 115,000 NEW MEXICO SENIORS ABOUT 100 MILLION A YEAR. FINALLY, IN 2021 THINK NEW MEXICO CONTINUED ITS LEADERSHIP INTERNSHIP PROGRAM, WHICH AIMS TO RETAIN A NEW GENERATION OF POTENTIAL LEADERS IN NEW MEXICO BY TEACHING THEM HOW THEY CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THEIR HOME STATE. IN 2021, THE INTERNSHIP PROGRAM SERVED SIX STUDENTS FROM ACROSS NEW MEXICO, TRAINING THEM HOW TO DEVELOP AND ENACT SOUND PUBLIC POLICY AND INTRODUCING THEM TO KEY POLICYMAKERS AND OPINION LEADERS.