Gov. Lujan Grisham calls for tax rebate, pay raises for school personnel

Ryan Laughlin | KOB

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SANTA FE, N.M. – The revenue from oil and gas is driving a massive budget surplus, and as a result, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham wants to increase spending in a lot of different places.

Here’s the big picture: the governor wants to spend $9.4 billion, an almost a 12% increase from last year.

The governor would like to see a $1 billion tax rebate. That would be another $750 coming back to every tax-paying New Mexican and $1,500 for joint filers.

The other part of the governor’s recommendation – that is sure to be hotly debated in the 60-day-session – is a $500 million tax break designed to help small businesses, among others.

HIGHLIGHTS

Housing and Homelessness

$25M for rental assistance and eviction prevention
$13M to incentivize development and zoning updates
$10M for the state’s Home Ownership Down Payment Assistance Program
$6M for a new comprehensive landlord support program
$4M for mobile homelessness response teams at the Department of Health

Health Care & Behavioral Health

$200M to establish the Rural Health Care Delivery Fund
$28M for the Health Professional Loan Repayment Program
$10M for the New Mexicare senior caregiver support program
$10M for a full-spectrum reproductive health clinic in southern New Mexico
$5M for additional support for alcohol abuse prevention and treatment
$32.5M for graduate medical education programs across the state
$7.7M for nursing programs at New Mexico’s higher education institutions
$5.8M to maintain existing school-based health centers and expand access to more than 25,000 students

Education and Child Wellbeing

$220.1M for extended in-classroom learning time
$30M to provide healthy universal school meals
$2.9M to the Children, Youth and Families Department for 60 new protective services staff, to be supported by additional federal matching funds
$277.3M for continued investments in affordable, high-quality childcare
$131M to maintain and expand access to high-quality pre-k education
$40.4M for the continued expansion of early childhood home visiting
$111.1M to provide a four percent salary increase for all school personnel
$100M for health care premium costs for public school personnel
$157.4M for the Opportunity Scholarship

Public Safety

$100M for continued law enforcement recruitment funding
$4M for Law Enforcement Survivors Benefits
$4M for Firefighter Survivors Benefits
$2.2M to create two hotshot forest fire crews

Economic Development & Infrastructure

$1B in economic relief through tax rebates
$128M for water infrastructure improvements
$146M for continued statewide broadband expansion
$35M for Local Economic Development Act funding
$75M for the Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund

The executive budget also includes $91.3M to provide a 4% pay raise for all state employees to ensure New Mexico’s workforce is competitively compensated.