New Mexico sexual assault services will come up short in Fiscal Year 2025.

New Mexico Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs advocated for $4 million from the state’s general funds for FY 25, which begins July 1. Alexandria Taylor, executive director of NMCSAP, said the state is appropriating about $1 million in recurring funds for sexual assault services. She said an additional $1.4 million is expected to come through the new “GRO Fund,” which will benefit local government bodies. Taylor said that the approximate $1.4 million will be distributed state-wide over a two-year period.

She said she is grateful for the funding because it was an increase from the  Legislative Finance Committee recommendation of  $500,000. She said that for lawmakers to improve the funding overall took a lot of work.

She also said she expects for more designations to come through that will go to a few municipalities and that money will be distributed to sexual assault providers in those municipalities but, she said, NMCAP doesn’t have those totals yet.

Taylor said that the problem lies in the VOCA [Victims of Crime Act] funding loss from the federal government. VOCA receives money from fines and fees associated with white-collar crimes but for years those have lessened, which has impaired the fund. While President Joe Biden signed a bill commonly referred to as “the VOCA fix,” in 2021, Taylor said that it will take some years before the fund can rebuild. 

Taylor said NMCAP will be working with the state to minimize impacts. 

“So we don’t see a loss of existing services. This request was not about expanding services. It was about maintaining what we have,” Taylor said.

But she said she doesn’t want to “downplay what it took to get that [funding] out of the budget.”

“We’re going to be in a position to be strategic to mitigate that gap that exists to not have a loss of services across the state,” Taylor said.