A lot on plate for legislative session

Here we are again, about to enter into the abyss of a 30-day legislative session. It’ll be one of the fun ones, when lawmakers will get to spend-spend-spend.

It must be refreshing for legislators who, not so long ago, had to cut-cut-cut their way through hard times and a tax-averse governor.

Nowadays, state coffers are flush with oil and gas revenues and there’s enough money for increases everywhere, to state agencies all over the place. In a press release from the governor’s office last week, a $7.68 billion budget proposal was announced, which is an 8.4% increase over last year — and still with enough left over for a “target” (whatever that means) to put 25% into reserves.

That reserve funds percentage seems exaggerated to me, given all the spending increases elsewhere else, but there is a lot of surplus money coming in. The latest projection is nearly $800 million, or about 10% more than the year before. There is indeed plenty of doe-ray-me to go around, and New Mexico’s Democratic majority is going to make sure it gets spent.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is coming strong out of the blocks again this session, proposing an expansion in her “moonshot” education initiative. She wants to increase funding into early childhood education and services, including the creation of an Early Childhood Trust Fund, and she’s also budgeting sizable increases into other public school programs and giving another round of raises to public school teachers and other personnel.

Plus, the governor wants to put $35 million into the New Mexico Opportunity Scholarship, to make college tuition-free for an expected 55,000 New Mexico students, thereby “restoring the initial promise of the Lottery Scholarship.”

The governor’s budget priorities remain focused on beefing up needed government services, including behavioral health services, health departments and the Children Youth and Families Department with more money and new hires.

And, finally, she’s proposing a 3% across-the-board raise for state employees, and 2% raises for higher education employees, along with additional funds to help patch up a bleeding state pension program.

It’s the second year in a row for state workers to get raises, something that should be expected but feels especially generous after eight years under Susana Martinez’s administration.

If, however, you’re thinking this session will be nothing but an all-round love-fest, think again. Lujan Grisham’s agenda includes gun-control legislation that has already spurred opposition from other powers-that-be in the state.

Another issue the governor is pushing to address in this short session is legalization of recreational marijuana, but as of this writing no such bill has been pre-filed. I suppose lawmakers are waiting on the governor’s lead for that one.

Tom McDonald is editor of the New Mexico Community News Exchange. Contact him at:

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