Senate subcommittee advances Manny Barreras to full Senate for confirmation as cabinet secretary and state chief information officer

A New Mexico Senate rules subcommittee voted to advance the nomination of Manny Barreras to the full Senate for confirmation as cabinet secretary and state chief information officer for the Department of Information Technology, the panel chair announced after a 9-0 vote.

Senator Michael Padilla introduced Barrerascalling him "a dedicated public servant" with more than two decades of experience in public-sector technology and public safety communications. "He has been instrumental in ensuring the seamless operation of the state's technology infrastructure," Padilla said during the subcommittee hearing.

Barreras, who has been serving in the acting role, told the committee his priorities include expanding broadband in rural communities, strengthening cybersecurity and modernizing state IT systems. "Technology is no longer a luxury. It is a necessity," Barreras said, outlining plans to "moderate, secure and expand New Mexico's digital infrastructure" and to work with the administratively attached Office of Broadband. He said his office would pursue cloud adoption, automation and workforce development and emphasized bipartisan cooperation.

Supporters who spoke to the committee described Barreras's role on past public safety communications projects. Pete Cassettes, retired New Mexico State Police chief, said Barreras supplied "straight direct answers" during a merger of dispatch centers and praised the nominee's understanding of mission-critical systems. Rick Brown, speaking on behalf of another supporter, cited a radio and dispatch system Barreras proposed that now serves 60 public-safety agencies and "over 9,000 radios." Both witnesses tied Barreras's private-sector experience at Motorola Solutions to improvements in public safety communications.

Committee members questioned Barreras about the state's fragmented IT landscape, where roughly 76 agencies and many boards and commissions have their own IT functions. Senator Block asked whether Barreras would push to consolidate servers and services; Barreras said he would "work with the cabinet secretaries and CIOs to adopt our cybersecurity plan" and described some unified functions already managed by DoIT, such as a statewide help desk and the newly created Office of Cybersecurity. He said he will continue to work to centralize certain cybersecurity functions while recognizing agencies that operate their own IT.

Members also asked about artificial intelligence and conflicts of interest because of Barreras's long private-sector experience. Barreras said his team is drafting guardrails for AI use and that he will require vendors to meet competitive, ethical and procurement standards; he said he would recuse himself from decisions where he sees a conflict. He also told senators he is moving procurement and contracts work out of DoIT's EPMO to the General Services Department (GSD) to expedite professional contract processing.

The committee moved Barreras's nomination to the full Senate on a motion by Senator Townsend. The clerk announced a roll-call result of nine in favor; the record in the hearing includes the names of several senators voting yes. The subcommittee chair then directed staff to bring the nomination to the chamber for confirmation.

What the committee recorded

- Motion: Move the nomination of Manny Barreras to the full Senate for confirmation. - Mover: Senator Townsend. - Outcome: Motion carried; nomination advanced to full Senate for confirmation (9 in favor, roll call announced).","sections":{"lede":"A New Mexico Senate rules subcommittee voted to advance the nomination of Manny Barreras to the full Senate for confirmation as cabinet secretary and state chief information officer for the Department of Information Technology, the panel chair announced after a 9-0 vote.","nut_graf":"Barreras, who has served in the acting role, outlined priorities including rural broadband expansion, cybersecurity and IT modernization. Supporters credited his private-sector work on public-safety communications, while senators pressed him on consolidation of agency IT, AI guardrails and potential vendor conflicts.","ending":"The nomination will go to the full Senate for a confirmation vote; the subcommittee directed staff to return the nomination to the floor later the same day."},