State lawmakers report budget surplus, local capital outlay and bills affecting veterans, health care and wildfire work

New Mexico state Representative Luis Terrazos and state Senator Gabriel Ramos briefed the Grant County Board of County Commissioners on legislation and budget outcomes from the 2025 session, outlining local funding wins and statewide bills that commissioners said affect rural priorities.

Representative Terrazos told commissioners the Legislature entered the session with what he described as a roughly $3,000,000,000 budget surplus and that lawmakers used some reserve funds to support a tax cut. He said the session produced no growth funds for legislators this year and that absence reduced discretionary dollars available for local operating needs. Terrazos listed projects he said secured funding for Grant County, including an appropriation he identified for a new CT scanner at the local hospital ($700,000), $220,000 for airport parking resurfacing, $250,000 for detention center renovations, and other items he said brought a little over $4,000,000 to Grant County overall. He also described work on bills he sponsored or supported: HB 47 (expanded property-tax exemptions for veterans and spouses), HB 161 (free park passes for veterans), HB 315 (measures to increase archaeological surveys to clear the way for fuel-thinning and wildfire mitigation work), and HB 104 (supporting law enforcement). Terrazos said he had worked on higher-education oversight measures and other items and encouraged local officials to contact him about bills that affect their communities.

Senator Gabriel Ramos thanked county staff and commissioners for outreach during the session and described his priorities, singling out behavioral-health reform spending (Senate Bill 3, which he described as bringing roughly $1,000,000,000 for mental and behavioral-health reform), insurance reform bills (including SB 221 on unfair insurance-claims practices), increases to the New Mexico Fair Plan cap to help insure homes in high-fire areas (SB 81, which he said raises caps to $750,000), and requirements for regents education (SB 19 requiring regents to take training). Ramos also discussed transparency measures for state risk-management claims (SB 220) and said the session included repeated debate over oil, gas and mining policy.

Both lawmakers urged residents and county officials to track bills and contact them when legislation might affect ranching, mining, health care or other local interests. Representative Terrazos left his cell number in the record and said his office will take constituent calls about pending issues.