Commission on the Status of Women seeks modest capacity funding after scaled‑back LFC recommendation

The New Mexico Commission on the Status of Women briefed the subcommittee on 2024 events, outreach and a small staffing request.

Executive Director Jennifer Getz described the commission’s statutory role: a bipartisan body that conducts statewide outreach, hosts regional events and an annual women's summit, compiles an annual report and acts as a hub for resources. The commission said it serves a broad population—more than one million women statewide—and maintains a database with contact information for roughly 750,000 constituents, which the commission said it would use more effectively with a modest database license fee and staff support.

Getz said the LFC recommendation was a flat budget that fully funds two positions but did not include the commission’s request for an additional $85,000: $50,000 for a part‑time accounting contractor to free the director from finance tasks, $20,000 for secured office space (the commission has two full‑time employees and plans to add a third in FY26) and $15,000 to license the database and improve outreach. The executive proposed $200,000 in GROW funds for two years; LFC did not include GROW funding because the proposed items carried recurring costs.

Commissioners and staff noted an FY24 reversion of approximately $51,800 tied to capacity constraints; Getz said several planned projects were not executed due to limited staff time. Committee members praised the summit and local events and asked for clarification about office space and audit timing. Representative Garrett complimented the commission’s outreach and the 2024 women's summit.

The subcommittee adopted the LFC recommendation; the record notes several committee members objected to that adoption but the motion for the LFC recommendation carried.