The House of Representatives were able to agree with the amendments that the Senate made to House Bill 2, now the $10.22 billion budget is heading to the Governor for final approval.
The Senate moved the legislation back to the house with a vote of 31-10.
This shows Fiscal Year 2025 getting an increase of 6.8% from the year prior and it will retain a 31% reserve.
Representative Nathan Small presented the Senate amendments to the budget bill.
“Mr. Speaker, Body [of Representatives], you have before you our summary, the LSC summary of the Senate Finance Committee’s amendments to House Bill 2 and 3. While they took a little while with their work, they did overall good work Mr. Speaker and Body. First on the recurring side Mr. Speaker and Body, their total changes included an increase of $31.6 million from what we sent over bringing when you add in the Feed Bill a 6.8% recurring budget increase equal to $10.22 billion.
Representative T. Ryan Lane showed concern about a Senate amendment.
“They made about a $10 million increase to the State Police pay plan, can I get details on what percentage that will be compared to the rest of the state employees.”
Representative Small responded with expert information stating that it was over 10%, concerning representative Lane.
“It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of law enforcement, including the State Police but I also think that we as a Body need to be careful about what those large increases do to our local police agencies.
This budget includes $4.4 Billion in recurring funds for public schools as well as a 3% salary increase for educators and $50 Million to start the Tribal Education Trust Fund.
The higher education department will be getting $1.3 Billion for Workforce development.
$532 million is going to support community safety initiatives.
$2 Billion for health and insurance related programs.
And substantial increases for climate and environmental initiatives, including $300 million for the Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund.
This budget is making investments that could deliver meaningful results for generations of New Mexicans.