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Committee advances pilot to recruit New Mexico-trained health workers back to state
Summary
The Legislative Health and Human Services Committee gave House Bill 15 a due-pass recommendation after sponsors described a $2 million pilot that would use workforce-agency data to contact New Mexico graduates working out of state and connect them to jobs and incentives.
House Bill 15, a pilot program to recruit New Mexico-trained health care and allied workers back to the state, drew broad support and cleared the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee with a due-pass recommendation.
The bill, sponsored by Representative Javier Anaya, would authorize a strategic recruitment pilot run through the Department of Workforce Solutions to identify graduates of New Mexico higher-education programs who are working in other states, contact them directly, and connect them to job openings and state incentives such as loan repayment, tax credits and other benefits. The sponsors asked for a $2,000,000 appropriation to begin the pilot.
Supporters told the committee they face large staffing shortages and see potential in reaching people who trained in New Mexico. “So what this bill does is instead of waiting for our own New Mexico graduates to come back home, we are actually reaching out to bring them back,” Representative Anaya said. Secretary Nayer of the Department of Workforce Solutions described the proposal as aligned with the agency’s WIOA-based workforce plan and said state workforce partners already have much of the data and services needed to implement outreach.
The bill targets both licensed clinical workers and unlicensed allied health professions, including techs, community health workers, peer navigators and behavioral-health staff. Sponsors described the program as a hybrid “headhunter/concierge” model: officials would identify candidates through shared data, inform them about existing incentives (loan repayment programs, rural tax credits, opportunity scholarship and childcare assistance) and help with licensing, credentialing and local placement. The program would not give hiring preference to particular employers; it would surface job openings statewide for qualified candidates and assist with practical relocation or spousal-employment questions.
Providers and associations urged passage. “This is an opportunity for us to provide a solution for those of us who are trying to recruit and retain,” said Patsy Romero, president and CEO of Santa Maria El Mirador, describing difficulty filling clinical-director positions. Gloria Doherty, speaking for the New Mexico Nurse Practitioner Council, cited workforce data the Department compiled showing substantial openings for nurse practitioners and nurses and urged broader outreach beyond state borders.
Opponents and some committee members pressed for guardrails and clearer measures of success. Representative Martinez and others asked how the program would be staffed and what recurring costs would be if the pilot scaled; witnesses estimated initial funds would pay for data work, outreach and several regional staff and that ongoing costs would be substantially lower. Representative Anne Chavis asked for measurable goals and triggers to stop funding if the pilot failed to meet benchmarks.
The committee motioned and the bill received a due-pass recommendation. The roll call produced a recorded outcome of a due pass; the committee announced the result as 7–3 in favor.
