Congress still must approve the amendment and is on track to do so, hopefully by the end of this session, a spokesperson for Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico told CNN.Using oil and gas revenues to help kids There has been a strong will in New Mexico to improve its slice of the widely broken US child care system, mainly because it is one of the poorest states and consistently ranks among the worst for child well-being, state officials and child advocates say.“It was working with policymakers to educate and have them understand just how important early childhood years are and then, when it came down to it, was really hundreds of thousands of contacts with voters.” It all paid off when voters on November 8 approved the ballot measure to guarantee that financing source in the state constitution so early childhood services and programs like child care would be accessible for most families in New Mexico.New Mexico, I think, really provides a road map to how that can be done.” Indeed, New Mexico’s newly enshrined constitutional guarantee, along with other efforts, could be the blueprint for addressing the nationwide struggle to afford and access child care, state officials and advocates here said.Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexico has established a minimum wage for child care workers: Entry-level employees now earn $15 dollars an hour, and more experienced lead teachers earn $20 dollars an hour."