Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the budget bill for Fiscal Year 2025 and the Capital Outlay spending bill.
The FY25 state budget bill passed by the legislature and now signed by Lujan Grisham includes $10.21 billion in recurring spending. That is a 6.8 percent increase over Fiscal Year 2024 state budget recurring spending. The budget maintains reserves at 32.5 percent record high according to a news release. The Capital Outlay and General Obligation Bond bill includes nearly $1.8 billion in projects throughout the state, according to the news release.
Lujan Grisham said through the release that the funding will “improve literacy, help keep New Mexicans safe, expand affordable housing, raise teacher pay and assist tribal governments,” among other things.
Some of the spending initiatives in the budget bill include:
Housing and Homelessness Reduction Initiatives:
·$125 million to NMFA’s opportunity enterprise revolving fund
·$50 million to the housing trust fund at NM Mortgage Finance Authority
·$19.7 million for statewide homelessness initiatives
·$10 million for transitional housing and shelter facilities for victims of domestic violence
·$3.3 million to HCA: housing for those with opioid use disorders and serious mental illness
Beautification, and litter clean-up efforts for state and city parks:
·$53 million for state and city parks
·$15 million for Balloon Fiesta Park
·$10 million for roadway beautification
·$10 million for state buildings
·$2 million for litter marketing campaign
Education:
· 3 percent raise for all school personnel
·$86 million for literacy initiatives across the state
·$41 million for universal free school meals
·$15 million for pay differentials to recruit and retain hard-to-staff special education positions
·$6 million for special education initiatives
·$5 million for attendance improvement interventions
·$4 million for school turnaround pilot projects in Albuquerque public schools
Public Safety:
·$25 million for firefighter recruitment fund
·$25 million for corrections and law enforcement recruitment
Infrastructure, Water, and Natural Resources:
·$540 million in road improvements
·$300 million for the conservation legacy permanent fund
·$75 million for the new “match fund”
·$50 million for the water projects fund
·$25 million for broadband
·$20 million tosupport and fund Indian water rights settlements
·$10 million to the Climate Investment Center
·$5 million for water right adjudication work
Some of the Capital Outlay and General Obligation Bond projects include:
·$325 million for Higher Education Institutions
·$110 million for Tribal Projects
·$104 million for water and wastewater projects statewide
·$92 million for Parks & Recreation
·$71 million for Public Safety
·$44 million to purchase and improve Correction Facilities Statewide
·$33 million for Senior Center Projects
·$30 million for the new Literacy Center
·$15 million for EV Infrastructure
·$10 million for a Reforestation Center
·$5.3 million for Early Childhood Education and Tribal Early Childcare Improvements
·$5 million for Acequia Improvements Statewide
·$3 million for the Regional Fire Training Academy and Memorial
State Employee Compensation · 3 percent across the board salary increases for all state employees