Subcommittee backs LFC budget for DOIT while flagging broadband and cybersecurity gaps

The House Appropriations & Finance subcommittee on Jan. 26 recommended the Legislative Finance Committee—s (LFC) funding plan for the Department of Information Technology, but members pressed agency officials over staffing and a roughly $5.8 million difference between the executive and LFC proposals for broadband and cybersecurity programs.

Emily Hilla, the LFC analyst for DOIT, told the committee the department has received a 468.2% increase in general-fund appropriations since FY22, driven largely by the creation of the Office of Cybersecurity and the Office of Broadband. She said the single largest line-item gap between the executive and LFC recommendations is about $5.8 million, mostly tied to the cybersecurity office and the Office of Broadband.

"As you can see in the LFC overview, the differences between the two recommendations is $5,800,000 in general fund revenue," Hilla said. Jacob Gable, the Department of Finance and Administration analyst, said the LFC held most base budgets flat while identifying personnel and other differences.

Secretary Manny Barretos, who represented the department at the hearing, urged the committee to adopt the executive—s posture on key investments, calling the executive package more aligned with the department—s strategic priorities. "Our position aligns with the executive recommendation as we believe it best reflects the priorities and strategic direction necessary to meet the state's objectives effectively," Barretos said.

Office of Broadband: staffing and program delivery

The LFC recommendation is roughly $427,700 (17.7%) below the executive for the Office of Broadband, primarily in personnel services. The executive sought funding for two additional permanent roles—a deputy director and a public information officer—that the LFC did not fund. Agency leaders said those two positions had previously been supported by sponsored-term grant funding and that the request would convert them to general-fund positions to ensure continuity.

Hilla explained that the LFC did not increase the two positions because it did not attribute the additional cost to increased workload, while the department said the positions are "critical" to coordinating grants and community outreach. The Office of Broadband administers Connect New Mexico Fund and an ARPA Capital Projects Fund award set to run through June 2027 and reported awards to date of $58 million to 22 projects serving roughly 22,549 locations.

Cybersecurity: large recurring and special asks

The largest discrepancy between the two recommendations concerns the Office of Cybersecurity. The LFC recommended $6.9 million while the executive recommended $12.3 million, a roughly $5.4 million difference. Department analysts said the executive package would convert items into recurring operations, fund a statewide web application firewall, provide an incident-response retainer, and support a statewide risk assessment. Jacob Gable said some of the requested spending would leverage federal grants, potentially bringing an additional $7.6 million in federal funds.

State Chief Information Security Officer Rajat Sivanadam warned committee members about accelerating threats driven by artificial intelligence. "In the past it takes a day or two for a threat to materialize. With the advent of AI, it can happen in less than 20 minutes," he said, adding that subscription services and multiyear agreements provide continuous monitoring and telemetry the state uses to track agency posture.

Member concerns and next steps

Representatives questioned whether projected vacancy savings could cover proposed conversions to permanent positions, how many K—12 schools and higher-education institutions participate in cybersecurity services (the committee heard 17 of 19 higher-education institutions participate), and how broadband awards and technical assistance reach tribal and least-connected communities. The Office of Broadband said it has awarded a large preliminary grant to the Navajo Nation and is seeking federal approval to deploy funding.

Representative Sarnana moved, and Representative Brown seconded, a motion recommending the LFC package and requesting an additional review of special appropriations. The motion passed with no objections.

The subcommittee recorded that specials will be reviewed again on Saturday and that no special appropriations were voted on during this hearing.