The New Mexico Senate on Monday afternoon approved House Bill 2—the state’s $11 billion spending plan—without a raise for state workers. The House of Representatives’ budget had previously included the raise.
Every Democratic Senator voted in favor of the budget in the 23-16 vote Monday afternoon, but several criticized the Senate Finance Committee for eliminating a 1 percent raise for state employees, which includes public school teachers and higher education staff, Source New Mexico reported.
The House of Representatives’ budget bill passed last week earmarked $26 million for the raise.
Before the Legislature can send the budget to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, the House will have to take a vote on whether it agrees with the changes the Senate made. If it doesn’t, both chambers will meet in a conference committee to try to reconcile differences between the two budgets.
Senate Republicans said in a statement that HB 2 will increase government spending while further imposing taxes on struggling New Mexican families and businesses.
Several healthcare bills were on the agenda at the Roundhouse yesterday. The House passed House Bill 99, medical malpractice reform, over the weekend but the bill has so far stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The committee discussed the bill for three hours and proposed over a dozen amendments before pausing the debate. The committee's chair, Senator Joseph Cervantes, worried the legislation was being rushed. Cervantes, a Democrat from Las Cruces, is a personal injury attorney who represents plaintiffs in malpractice cases. The committee will resume debate on HB 99 today.
The House passed three healthcare related bills yesterday. House Bill 195 would work alongside HB 99 to specifically protect healthcare providers' personal assets in medical malpractice cases.
Senate Bill 30 repeals a statute that required all abortions performed in the state be reported to the state registrar.
And House Bill 287 would make the Legislative Health and Human Services a permanent committee. The change would include expanding the number of lawmakers on the committee, hiring a permanent director and year-round staff, and enhancing the committee’s oversight of healthcare agencies, programs, and policies.
