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Starting November 1, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham plans to make New Mexico the first state in the nation to provide no-cost child care to every family, regardless of income. That means even millionaires’ children will be entitled to “free” (taxpayer-funded) daycare — all at the expense of hardworking taxpayers.

At a press conference in Santa Fe, the governor boasted that so-called “universal child care” is the “backbone” of her plan to support families. “There are so many people across the country that say [universal child care is] impossible — not impossible,” Lujan Grisham said, adding that she believes subsidizing care for all families will “lift New Mexico out of poverty.”

But the plan comes with an enormous price tag. New Mexico’s Early Childhood Education and Care Department already spends $463 million annually on subsidies. Expanding the program statewide will require at least another $120 million every year — pushing the total tab toward $600 million in recurring spending. The governor says she will ask lawmakers during the upcoming 30-day session to cover the shortfall.

Currently, families earning up to 400% of the federal poverty level — roughly $106,600 for a family of three — already qualify for free care. The new rule removes those limits entirely, opening the program to every household, regardless of wealth. “This amounts to an average annual family savings of $12,000 per child,” the governor’s office admitted in a release, underscoring just how much taxpayers are expected to shoulder for families who could easily afford care on their own.

Critics are warning of the consequences. Sen. George Muñoz (D-Gallup), chair of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, questioned how the governor expects to sustain such massive recurring costs. “I don’t know how they’re going to explain that to people when they don’t have the money to pay for everyone’s child care,” Muñoz said.

The Legislative Finance Committee has also cautioned that expanding eligibility disproportionately benefits higher-income families, leaving fewer resources for low-income, at-risk children. House Republicans have blasted the program as “nannies for millionaires,” writing:

“New Mexico already provides free child care for families up to 400% of the federal poverty level. Now Democrats want taxpayers to subsidize childcare for the wealthy, while ignoring real emergencies like our doctor shortage, failing CYFD, and rising crime. Gov. Lujan Grisham is out of touch with what New Mexico families are actually facing.”

Despite these warnings, the governor brushed aside concerns, claiming wealthy families won’t really use the program. “They’re not going to use this system by and large, so why develop a system that works just in that way?” she said, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican report by Daniel Chacón. Yet her own administration admits the plan will add thousands of new slots — and demands more construction spending to build facilities to handle the expansion.

In total, the governor’s “universal” scheme represents a quarter-billion-dollar hike in taxpayer obligations, with no guardrails to prevent subsidizing the childcare of the rich. Meanwhile, pressing crises like New Mexico’s failing child welfare agency, doctor shortages, and rising crime continue to go unaddressed.

For Lujan Grisham, though, “universal” means everyone — even millionaires’ kids. For New Mexicans, it means a bigger bullseye on their paychecks to cover the growing cost of government handouts.