Think New Mexico

In 2022, Think New Mexico launched a major New initiative to dramatically improve student outcomes in New Mexico's public schools. Think New Mexico researched, wrote, and published a policy report titled, "a roadmap for rethinking public education in New Mexico," which laid out a sweeping ten point plan with 30 separate legislative recommendations to improve the performance of New Mexico's public school students. Copies of the report were distributed to nearly 14,000 New mexicans as part of our extensive public education efforts around this issue. Think New Mexico also developed legislation to implement our proposed reforms and organized a diverse coalition of supporters to advocate for them during the 2023 legislative session. During the 2023 session, several of Think New Mexico's proposed education reforms were enacted, including increasing learning time for students by the equivalent of 27 extra days a year for elementary school students and 10 extra days for middle and high school students, as well as securing funding for higher principal salaries and for teacher residencies, paid year-long experiences in which a New teacher teaches alongside an experienced teacher. In addition, in 2022 Think New Mexico successfully won passage of legislation implementing the primary policy reform proposed in our 2020 policy report titled, "how predatory lending swallowed New Mexico and what we can do about it." During the 2022 legislative session, Think New Mexico 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 is saving 240,000 low-income New mexicans approximately 175 million a year. During the 2022 legislative session, Think New Mexico also 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. Think New Mexico recommended that the state reduce or repeal its tax on social security in its 2019 policy report, "solving the hidden crisis: achieving retirement security for all New mexicans." Finally, in 2022 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 2022, the internship program served five students from across New Mexico, training them how to develop and enact sound public policy and introducing them to key policymakers and opinion leaders.