Last September, Lujan Grisham took the final step, announcing that New Mexico would be the first to open its subsidized day care to any family, a move estimated to save families $13,000 a year per child.

“That was always the vision,” she said at the time. “It took us this long to realize it, but by golly, we did.”

The announcement was met with applause and cheers, but behind the scenes, state legislators — who said they had not been informed that the program would become universal — were confounded, along with some members of the department’s own staff.

“We were all shocked,” said state Sen. George Muñoz, a Democrat and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. “Nobody knew about it until the day it was in the paper. All of a sudden we were all calling each other, saying, ‘Where did this come from?’ ‘Did anybody from the governor’s office talk to you about it?’ Nope, we were all in the dark.”

Enrollment has soared to 47,000 from 32,000 since the launch, but so have the costs.

In February, the legislature passed a bill formalizing the program. Only afterward did lawmakers learn from the Lujan Grisham administration that it already faced a $60 million budget shortfall, Muñoz said.

The legislature’s finance committee said in a report last year that the program could soon cost the state almost $849 million annually, a roughly $400 million increase from the fiscal year 2026 payouts. The governor disputed that finding, saying that the legislature’s analysts did not factor in those who would remain in private care.

https://archive.ph/uFG0T

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5901336&forum_id=2).#50120664)

its all so furking retarded

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5901336&forum_id=2).#50120762)

you forgot about the part where they want their student loan debt forgiven to work the $45k job, too

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5901336&forum_id=2).#50120787)