State Environment Secretary James Kenney is telling lawmakers his department is underfunded and needs a higher appropriation to serve the people of New Mexico.
Kenney discussed budget issues with the Senate Conservation Committee on Tuesday saying despite some small gains in the legislature to fund specific programs MNED continues to fall behind when it comes to some of the basic services it needs to provide the state.
Kenney says while the New Mexico general fund has increased 20% over the past 12 years, funding for the Environment Department has not kept pace and is short $2.3 million adjusted for inflation.
He says while the department is doing well in retaining personnel, there is still a severe shortage of people to do things like inspections and handing out permits.
“So if you’re not looking for it you’ll never find it and even if you find it, and you don’t have the budget you can’t fix everything,” he said. “Making those difficult decisions…be it radiation issues up at Los Alamos or oil and gas emissions it’s a tough decision every single day. It’s a decision that we shouldn’t have to make either as New Mexicans and as public servants.”
For example Kenney says under OSHA, there are 5,670 regulated facilities per inspector. He says it would take 24 years to visit each site.
Kenney is seeking an additional increase of $2.6 million in recurring general fund dollars above the Legislative Finance Committee Recommendations. He says it’s needed to improve services, avoid adverse federal grant audits, and keep NMED field offices from permanently closing.