REQUESTING THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR ADDITIONAL CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE THROUGH THE FEDERAL CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT.

WHEREAS, child care is a necessary and unavoidable cost for most working families with young children; and

WHEREAS, the quality of care a child receives profoundly and demonstrably influences his development, with good care producing students in honors classes, while those with no or poor care are more often found in special education classes or among dropouts; and

WHEREAS, high-quality child care has been demonstrated to be particularly beneficial for children from low-income families, while low-quality care has equally been demonstrated to be detrimental; and

WHEREAS, over one-half of New Mexico's young children are part of low-income families; and

WHEREAS, the federal government supports state child care assistance programs through the federal child care and development block grant; and

WHEREAS, New Mexico's share of the federal child care and development block grant is insufficient to ensure low-income children's access to quality child care or to achieve measurable and lasting improvements in child care quality; and

WHEREAS, congress will consider the reauthorization of the child care and development block grant in 2002;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico congressional delegation be requested to seek additional funding for child care assistance in New Mexico through increased funding of the federal child care and development block grant; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be sent to each member of the New Mexico congressional delegation.