House Appropriations & Finance Committee advances committee substitute for House Bill 2, 16-1

The New Mexico House Appropriations & Finance Committee approved a committee substitute for House Bill 2, the state budget bill, in a roll-call vote of 16 to 1 during its committee meeting, moving the proposal to the next stage of the legislative process.

Committee Chair Small, introducing the substitute, said the proposal stays “well within the budget parameters that we set,” adding the plan keeps recurring spending growth under 6% while making one-time appropriations for priority areas. "We're gonna be sending this over committee under 6% recurring spending growth, well within our target," Chair Small said.

The committee's substitute preserves the Legislative Finance Committee's general framework while adding recurring increases that members prioritized in subcommittee and work-group sessions. Committee staff and directors said the largest new recurring allocations are for public school support, followed by the Department of Public Safety and a $1,500,000 recurring increase for the Office of the State Engineer. Committee members also directed recurring funding toward court personnel, emphasizing raises for lower-paid court staff.

Director Breiding summarized bill structure for members, noting Section 4 contains recurring appropriations, Section 5 holds one-time appropriations and Section 6 includes supplemental funding. "The giant bill before you is the culmination of all your work," Breiding said, and staff offered to walk members through specific sections and the technical language changes listed in the committee packet.

Members highlighted several one-time and targeted investments included in the substitute. A subcommittee allocation of roughly $1,200,000 was discussed, with approximately $721,000 of that identified for the Livestock Meat Inspection Program to support in-state inspections. Members also emphasized investments in economic development and behavioral health, including provider rate increases for primary care, infant and maternal services, behavioral health, assisted living and nursing home providers, and DD waiver services.

Representative Pettigrew asked for an updated version of the special supplementals and deficiency appropriations before floor consideration. Committee staff responded that updated packets were available and would be distributed: "we have them in the back, so we'll make sure those get out," a staff member said.

On the motion to pass the committee substitute, Representative Luhan made the motion and Representative Garrett seconded. The committee conducted a roll-call vote. The recorded votes in the roll call included: Representative Baca (yes), Representative Chatfield (yes), Representative Dow (yes), Representative Duncan (yes), Representative Garrett (yes), Representative Hernandez (yes), Representative Herndon (yes), Representative Herrera (yes), Representative Little (yes), Representative Luhan (yes), Representative Pettigrew (no), Representative Sanchez (yes), Representative Sariana (yes), Representative Silva (yes), Representative Vincent (yes), Vice Chair Dixon (yes) and Chair Small (yes). The chair announced the motion passed 16 to 1.

The committee thanked staff and directors for their work putting the substitute together and adjourned the session. The substitute now advances toward floor consideration, where members asked that updated supplemental and deficiency documents be available prior to the House floor debate.

Votes at a glance

- Committee substitute for House Bill 2 (HB2): motion to pass by Representative Luhan; seconded by Representative Garrett. Roll-call result: 16 yes, 1 no (Representative Pettigrew). Outcome: approved by committee, passed to the full House for further consideration.