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National Guard asks for state match, recruiting funds and to expand youth challenge programs
Summary
The Department of Military Affairs sought state funding to sustain and expand the governor’s summer challenge and job challenge academies and requested recruiting incentives to avert force-structure losses, while lawmakers flagged the expansion and asked for measurements of effectiveness.
The New Mexico Department of Military Affairs told the House appropriations subcommittee it needs state funding to preserve recent youth programs and to bolster recruitment as federal force-structure changes threaten local National Guard positions.
Adjutant General Miguel Aguilar said the department is asking for a $250,000 general fund increase to provide the required state match for the youth challenge and job challenge academies, plus a separate roughly $281,000 request to fund operating and search-and-rescue costs. "This funding will allow us to bring the staffing in that we need to add an additional two programs, another one in Albuquerque this coming year, and then the thought is to figure out how we do a rural one," Aguilar said of the governor’s summer challenge.
Aguilar described the summer program run last year — five weeks of literacy, physical fitness and mentoring — as producing measurable improvements in some literacy measures and changes in behavior observed by local principals. He said the National Guard also wants to expand access for middle-school-age youth and to add a rural site. The department used some CYFD and literacy funding to pilot the program and said the uniformed presence appears to change student behavior and engagement.
On recruitment, Aguilar warned that New Mexico risks losing authorized positions if the Department of Defense adjusts force structure elsewhere. He said the Guard’s authorized strength is roughly 2,900 for the Army component but current drilling strength is nearer 2,400; Air component authorized is about 1,000 with actual strength in the low 900s. The department requested $300,000 to run a recruiting incentive program to energize referrals and improve recruiting.
LFC and DFA staff supported funding for parts of the program but recommended caution about stipends and other expansions that are harder to show as cost-effective in increasing enlistments. "The part that we took issue with was the stipends because while other states do it, no other states really been able to show that it's an effective use of funding," LFC analyst Scott Sanchez said.
Lawmakers also questioned program measurement. The adjutant general said the pilot produced improved literacy scores and strong participant attendance but that some benefits, such as changes in behavior, are harder to quantify.
Action: The subcommittee accepted the LFC recommendation for the Department of Military Affairs budget. A committee motion to adopt the recommendation was seconded and approved with no objections recorded; members asked staff to revisit expansion requests and to weigh measurable outcomes in future appropriation decisions.
Ending: The department was asked to provide more program evaluation detail and to coordinate with LFC and DFA staff on any expanded request.
