MLG’s “Free” Childcare will soon require copays for some

While Michelle Lujan Grisham has taken her victory laps in the media on her taxpayer funded universal childcare program. Touted as “free” and “universal” and first of its kind in the United States, the Legislature DID include a few safeguards. You can read the bill (final passage) for yourself here. Specifically, on page 11 it includes possible co-pays (and other measures) if “the twelve-month average percentage change in the annual consumer price index for all urban consumers exceeds 3 percent.”

Guess what? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics data for August of 2026 the 12 month average percentage change in CPI for all urban consumers is 3.4%.

So, copays are on the way for at least some participants in the “free” childcare program.