Competition fierce for state money in Legislature

There is still more uncertainty than decisive action taking place in the 2023 New Mexico Legislature’s opening weeks, according to the legislators who represent Curry and Roosevelt counties.

As of Monday, bills were being assigned to committees as the Legislature entered its third week of a 60-day session.

For local lawmakers, the main concern is money. The state, they say, is enjoying another year of increased revenue and the competition for extra funding is fierce.

The Legislative Finance Committee has recommended a budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year that calls for spending $9.44 billion from the state’s general fund, a 12%, or $1.04 billion, increase over FY23 planned spending, according to the committee’s web page.

Curry and Roosevelt counties’ legislators are all Republicans, and the veterans among them are urging that some money be set aside in case oil and gas excise tax revenues next year do not rise to this year’s windfall level.

State Rep. Jack Chatfield, whose House District 67 includes Texico, and other parts of Curry, Colfax, Harding, Quay, San Miguel & Union counties, said he would like to see the state put $1 billion in reserves to save for years when oil and gas revenues decline.

As things stand this year, however, he said, “There’s a lot of money and a whole lot of people want it.”

State Sen. Stuart Ingle, whose Senate District 27 includes parts of Curry, Roosevelt, Chaves, De Baca and Lea counties, said he also hopes some excess funds can be set aside for future decreases.

He said, however, that state funds are “swimming in money for cities and counties. No one knows how much but it’s billions of dollars in excess.”

State Sen. Pat Woods, whose Seventh Senate District includes parts of Curry, Quay and Union counties, agreed with Ingle that the state treasury is currently “saturated with money” as it was last year.

“We can’t push it out the door fast enough,” Woods said. State agencies, he said, have had to return $360 million from last year in excess of needs, and he expects the state’s total budget to rise as much as 14%.

State Rep. Andrea Reeb, whose 64th House District includes part of Curry, Roosevelt and Chaves counties, is keeping watch over 15 bills related to crime and law enforcement bills she has introduced. Topics range from violent felonies to cannabis use by underage children.

She said her experience as a former district attorney is helping her with multi-tasking, debating with little preparation and dealing with the “crazy pace” of legislating.

“I am still very green in matters related to the Labor, Veterans and Military Committee” she has been assigned to, “and so I’m listening and learning and seeking guidance a lot.”

Chatfield, who has been serving in the Legislature since 2019, said he is concerned that some bills introduced in the Democrat-dominated Legislature are “pretty radical.” One would allow the state to bid on purchasing small farms to gain land for conservation purposes.

He said he is also concerned about some gun control bills that have been introduced.

A bill he has introduced that Woods has also introduced in the Senate would encourage the growth of the meat-packing industry in New Mexico.

Chatfield and Woods are cattle ranchers, and would benefit from in-state meatpacking, which would “make us less dependent on the national meatpackers,” like Tyson Foods and Cargill, Chatfield said.

Chatfield said cattle ranchers have become “price takers, not price makers” when they sell cattle. Local packers, he said, would produce better quality beef.

Chatfield said he is also concerned with education and he opposes longer school years as a means of compensating for lost academic achievement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Better results, he said, would come from favoring additional hours per day, rather than more days in class.

Quality is more important, he said. “Longer is not better. Better is better.”

Woods, who has been a state senator since 2012, said encouraging the growth of meat packing in New Mexico would enhance “value-added agriculture” in the state.

Starting new packing houses, he said, is expensive and the federal permitting process is time-consuming.

“We should streamline that process,” he said.

Woods said he is also opposed to legislation that would make it illegal for anyone under 21 years of age to carry a gun.

Gun safety is taught in 4-H clubs and by the National Rifle Association, he said, “but that’s not enough for some people.”

Another concern he has with the state’s new revenues is that the state has created more work than the state’s contractors can handle.

“Everybody who wants to work is working,” he said, and state contracting is pushing the limits of their capacity.

To combat crime, he said, the state should bring back “qualified immunity,” which relieves law enforcement officers from liability for damage or injury that happens while doing law enforcement duty.

There is plenty of legislation already proposed to fight crime in the current legislative session, Woods said.

Woods is also concerned about rural health care, and said legislation has been proposed that would bring $200 million to rural health care facility operations.

“Medicaid is not paying enough for the care of patients,” he said, and the number of doctors willing to take Medicaid patients is dwindling.

About 47% of New Mexico residents receive health care through Medicaid, including about 70% of the state’s children, he said.

Woods said he also supports caps on medical liability to encourage physicians to locate in New Mexico.

One more bill causes concern for Woods, he said.

That bill would make it illegal to use exotic animals in traveling exhibits.

This bill, he said, would hamper educational programs at the Hillcrest Park Zoo in Clovis.

Ingle said he is expecting increases in state employee salaries, increases in education funding and, he is hoping, more spending on state highways to result from another year of windfall revenues from oil and gas tax revenues.

He said he is also concerned for legislation that would ensure adequate and stable retirement funding for district court and magistrate judges to result from the increased revenue.

He said he is consulting with Reeb on assuring increased capital outlay allocations for eastern New Mexico.

“There’s a pretty good chance” that capital outlay funding will be generous, he said, “but I can’t tell you how much.”

It’s too early to tell what will happen with most legislation, he said, since the committee processes are just beginning.