New Mexico lawmakers brace for steep cuts to federal funding 

By Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico

New Mexico lawmakers this week rolled out a plan to help prepare for potential hefty reductions in federal funding.

The Legislative Council, the group of state representatives and senators that oversees all lawmaking between New Mexico’s legislative sessions, voted unanimously Monday afternoon at its first meeting following this year’s session to create a new panel called the Federal Infrastructure Funds and Stability Interim Committee. 

House Speaker Javier Martínez and Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, both Albuquerque Democrats, told Source NM after the meeting that the committee, in a nutshell, will examine potential federal funding cuts and consider ways to adapt to them if they become real.

For example, the committee will look at proposals to cut funding to Head Start, a child care and early education program. This week, U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) joined 40 other senators in a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. demanding he immediately unfreeze Head Start funding and reinstate early childhood education workers who have either been laid off or furloughed as result of closures of the preschools, which rely on federal funding.

Similarly, the new legislative committee will track funds for Medicaid, the safety-net health insurance program for people with low incomes, Martínez said. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has said previously she might call a special session in the fall, should the state need to address federal shortcomings in programs such as Medicaid. The state also is also party to multi-state lawsuits challenging federal cuts.

Its members will also consider the Trump administration’s proposal to abolish the federal Department of Education, Stewart said. Federal funding accounts for 30% of New Mexico’s education budget, she said, including money for special education.

Stewart said the committee has no historical precedent in the New Mexico Legislature, noting “this is an ahistorical presidency.” The committee is intended to last for the remainder of the year, but could extend beyond that if needed, she said.

Martínez told the Legislative Council the new committee will not duplicate the work being done by the Legislative Finance Committee and other legislative panels but, rather, supplement it with a “proactive approach to deal with any potential reductions in federal funding.”

“It will be what I consider to be a very nuts-and-bolts committee, with a tailored, specific focus,” he said.

Martínez appointed Rep. Patricia Lundstrom (D-Grants) as the panel’s co-chair from the House of Representatives, and Stewart appointed Sen. William Soules (D-Las Cruces) as the co-chair from the Senate. Attempts to reach Lundstrom and Soules for comment through spokespeople for their respective chambers were unsuccessful as of publication time.

Other members of the new committee include Reps. Susan Herrera (D-Embudo), Micaela Lara Cadena (D-Las Cruces), Mark Duncan (R-Kirtland) and Cathrynn Brown (R-Carlsbad); and Sens. George Muñoz (D-Gallup), Linda Trujillo (D-Santa Fe), James Townsend (R-Artesia) and Minority Whip Pat Woods (R-Broadview).

Source New Mexico is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Source New Mexico maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Julia Goldberg for questions: info@sourcenm.com.