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Veterans Services urges restoration of service funds, unveils mobile outreach and Carlsbad cemetery opportunity
Summary
Department of Veterans Services described outreach expansion (26 offices; mobile outreach vehicle), success in getting Taos recognized and VA awards for state cemeteries, and a pending federal grant for a Carlsbad State Veterans Cemetery; the department asked the Legislature to restore roughly $319,000 cut from service programs and to support ICIP capital for cemetery infrastructure.
Secretary James Herrera (Department of Veterans Services) told the committee that the department is expanding outreach and services for New Mexico veterans while pressing for recurring service funding the agency says LFC’s recommendation reduced.
Herrera said the department now operates 26 locations statewide and celebrated three VA‑funded cemeteries that received national compliance awards. He announced a mobile outreach vehicle’s maiden operational trip (first scheduled stop Jemez Pueblo) to deliver services in rural and tribal areas.
"We have 26 locations statewide," Herrera said. He noted passage of last year’s House Bill 47 (veteran tax exemption expansion) and a large increase in workload for disability tax‑exemption processing: "Within the first two quarters this year, we've already done 3,559" disability tax exemption transactions compared with 1,700 for a prior full fiscal year.
Herrera told lawmakers the LFC recommendation is close to the executive but that cuts to contractual/service lines would undermine the department’s capacity to coordinate community partners. He described a $319,100 reduction in general‑fund transfers under the LFC recommendation and asked the committee to restore service funding or to approve special appropriations to preserve program flexibility (noting constraints in enterprise and license‑plate funds and other restricted accounts).
On capital needs, Herrera requested ICIP funding (roughly $3.23 million) to maintain cemetery safety and infrastructure (sound walls, handrail and concrete repairs, and other maintenance). He also announced that the department received a federal grant opportunity to fund a Carlsbad State Veterans Cemetery and expects to pursue it; construction would add operating needs and several staff once open.
Legislators praised outreach and suicide‑prevention outreach, urged protection for suicidality programs, and asked for follow‑up on burial/honor‑guard challenges in some rural counties. Herrera clarified that the state runs VA‑funded cemeteries with state personnel but that military casualty assistance centers (e.g., Fort Bliss) handle service‑centric honor guard assignments.
What happens next: The committee adopted the LFC recommendation for the agency in the hearing but several members and the secretary agreed to continue discussions to identify supplemental or recurring funding to restore service lines and to pursue ICIP and special appropriations as needed.
