SANTA FE, N.M. – New Mexico is ranked one of the worst states for child well-being. While the Legislature has made significant investments in public schools and early childhood education, they also know those first few months of life are critically important, and they want to help families however they can.

“Everything with this newborn, is just so terrifying, you know, to ensure that you have some sort of financial stability to stand on and take care of your growing family. You know, that’s no one’s really ever dismissed that,” said state Rep. Lina Serrato.

Democratic state lawmakers are trying to provide that stability with a new Welcome Child Fund. It’s just one part of the reworked Paid Family and Medical Leave proposal offering all New Mexico families up to $9,000 for each new, or adopted, child along with guaranteed job protection for three months.

“There’s a ton of costs when you first have a kid, not to mention that it is nearly impossible to find child care between the ages of zero and three months, and these dollars can essentially be used for that as well,” said Serrato. 

But not all New Mexicans are ready for parenthood. That’s why there’s nearly a dozen safe haven baby boxes across the state, allowing parents to safely and discreetly surrender their babies for adoption, but there’s still some legal gray area.

“We’ve had a lot of the attorneys for the cities and counties just call and question, because they’re afraid that there’s some liabilities,” said state Sen. David Gallegos. 

Gallegos is carrying bills to clean up those laws, ideally preventing the state from hunting down birth mothers after the fact. It’s something he fears discourages women from using the baby boxes.

“Ultimately, we want to give her protection, because if we don’t do this, then the dumpster or trash can is the option. And, you know, we don’t want to go there again,” said Gallegos. 

His bills are still at the starting line along with another Republican bill to expand resources for pregnant women, but a so-called Baby Bonds bill is picking up momentum.

“What this really does is it invests in children now for their adulthood,” said Teresa Madrid, interim executive director of the Partnership for Community Action. 

The proposal would establish a new $5 million trust fund solely dedicated to New Mexicans born after Jan. 1, 2025.

Once they grow up and meet certain requirements, they’ll be eligible to access that money to help pay for education, housing, business startups and even retirement.

“Baby bonds are designed to build long term wealth and economic security for families. It gives young adults that start up capital so that they can begin building their wealth,” said Madrid. 

That bill is now headed to the House floor for a vote.

Lawmakers are also pursuing serious changes to the state’s CARA program, which organizes plans of care for substance-exposed newborns.

The House already approved a bill with several changes to the program, while the Senate is still working on the governor’s version of the bill which includes a few other CYFD reform plans.

It’s too early to know which bill could end up reaching her desk, but the clock is ticking on both of them.