Proposed Budget Highlights
The governor’s budget focuses on the areas of education, housing, public safety, and healthcare while also keeping more money in the pockets of New Mexicans. The budget builds up on recent progress by funding programs and initiatives that are working while also investing in new strategies to continue to help the state grow and prosper. The budget includes the following recommendations:
Housing and Homelessness
- Invests a total of $107 million in housing and homelessness initiatives including the following:
- $10 million to expand the Casa Connection Grant Program that provides transitional housing opportunities for the homeless population.
- $25 million for rental assistance and eviction prevention.
- $20 million to Linkages Program for supportive housing vouchers.
Health Care and Behavioral Health
- Puts $200 million into the Rural Health Care Delivery Fund to increase and improve access to services for people who live in rural communities.
- Proposes $2 million in recurring spending to the Department of Health to maintain clinical family planning and reproductive health services and $10 million in capital outlay for a reproductive health clinic in southern New Mexico.
- Allocates $11.6 million to increase health care facilities reimbursement rate and $67.8 million for Medicaid provider reimbursement rate increases.
- Includes $10.2 million for cost-of-living adjustment for developmental disabilities waiver service providers.
- Allocates $30 million for services to seniors for physical and mental health care, case management, and caregiving.
- Includes $6.6 million to expand the 988 crisis line services statewide.
- Invests a total of $68.2 million in establishing and strengthening health care career pipelines to recruit, train, and keep health care professionals in the state.
Education and Child Well-being
- Provides $220.1 million to extend in-classroom learning time by increasing the number of educational hours during the school year and an additional $30 million for additional classroom time for special education students and support for special education teachers.
- Provides $50 million for before-school, after-school, and summer programs and $41 million to increase teacher planning and collaboration time.
- Allocates $111.1 million for a 4 percent salary increase for all school personnel.
- Proposes $100 million to reduce the cost of health insurance for public school personnel and $22.2 million for a one percent employer-paid pension contribution increase.
- Allocates $112.6 million for affordable, high-quality childcare.
- Directs $30 million for healthy universal school meals to eliminate school meal costs for all children and $20 million for school kitchen infrastructure improvements.
- Allocates $157.4 million to the Opportunity Scholarship program to ensure all eligible students have access to higher education.
- Invests $15 million in career technical education and Innovation Zones.
- Invests over $100 million in capital projects at higher education institutions.
Public Safety
- Directs $100 million in nonrecurring spending for the Law Enforcement Recruitment Initiative to recruit more law enforcement officers.
- Directs $4 million for law enforcement survivors benefits and $4 million for firefighter survivors benefits.
- Allocates $2.2 million to create and staff two hotshot forest firefighter crews, $5.95 million for the Fire Protection Fund, $7.45 million for the Fire Protection Grant Fund, and $2 million to the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management for pre-disaster mitigation.
- Directs $30 million for updates to correctional facilities.
Economic Development, Infrastructure, and Taxes
- Proposes $1 billion in economic relief through tax rebates by providing a $750 tax rebate to single filers and a $1,500 rebate to joint filers.
- Directs $146.1 million to the state’s Department of Information Technology for broadband expansion.
- Recommends $128 million in nonrecurring spending to the Office of the State Engineer to expand, improve, and protect water infrastructure.
- Allocates $14 million for the Job Training Incentive Program and $35 million to the Local Economic Development Act Fund.
Special Initiatives
- Directs $75 million to the new Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund to create sustained funding for state programs that protect and preserve the environment.
- Proposes $91.3 million to fund a four percent salary increase for all state employees.