Latest news with #HB450
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New Mexico Legislature passes $1.2B in local infrastructure, construction spending
Legislative Finance Committee analyst Cally Carswell, Rep. Derrick Lente and Sen. Benny Shendo discuss capital outlay funding with the Senate Finance Committee on March 20, 2025. (Photo by Austin Fisher / Source NM) The New Mexico Senate on Thursday afternoon approved $1.2 billion in one-time funding for local infrastructure, buildings and equipment in an annual spending bill called 'capital outlay.' Lawmakers pass a capital outlay bill each year to pay for all or part of new infrastructure or construction — projects like buildings, parks, roads or acequia upgrades. The Senate voted 25-16 in favor of House Bill 450, with Republicans in opposition. The floor vote came minutes after the Senate Finance Committee passed the bill, which will allocate funds to more than 1,400 projects in all 33 of New Mexico's counties. The House of Representatives passed the same version of HB450 on Wednesday; the bill now heads to the governor's desk. Sen. Pat Woods (R-Broadview) opposed the bill in committee on Thursday for the same reasons as his House colleagues the day before: Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham added a $10 million request for the construction of a reproductive health clinic in Northern New Mexico. 'I know the governor has all the rights in the world to put in whatever piece she wants in this,' Woods told the committee. 'I'm disappointed it came in so late and that I wasn't able to see it ahead of time.' Some of the big-ticket items in the bill include $50 million for public school buildings statewide; $40 million for a forensic unit at the Behavioral Health Institute in Las Vegas; and $40 million for a humanities and social sciences complex at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Most of the money in the capital outlay bill — nearly $800 million — comes from the state's General Fund, its biggest single pot of public money, while another $292 million comes from the sale of severance tax bonds and the remaining $132.9 million comes from other state funds. Legislative Finance Committee staff have recommended lawmakers consider setting an earlier deadline for local capital outlay requests, and creating a basic method of vetting and tracking projects that receive state money. The Department of Finance and Administration has created an online dashboard that allows people to track capital outlay spending, but lawmakers are considering more changes. Rep. Derrick Lente (D-Sandia Pueblo) told the committee the capital outlay process is a 'work in progress.' He said an LFC subcommittee met over the interim last year to discuss ways to 'modernize' the process. He said he expects a minimum funding amount or a 'floor' to be one of those changes. 'If we don't set this floor, we're nickel and diming this process to a point where they may never be able to spend this money because it's never enough, and the project continues to go up in price, and at the end of the day, we just continue to add to the unspent balance that we have today,' Lente said. Overall, $5.8 billion remains in unspent capital outlay funding, said Cally Carswell, principal capital outlay analyst for the Legislative Finance Committee and an expert witness on HB450. Sen. Michael Padilla (D-Albuquerque) told the committee he coordinates with representatives whose districts overlap with his to collaborate on funding specific projects, and asked if anything can be done to help coordinate capital outlay funding in different parts of New Mexico. Carswell told the committee similar coordination is happening in several parts of the state, it's a good practice and tends to lead to more projects getting more of the funding they need. She said after this session, LFC could start looking at 'some sort of technological solutions or additional tools' to make it easier for lawmakers to coordinate. 'Capital outlay has to change,' Senate Finance Committee Chair Sen. George Muñoz (D-Gallup) said on the Senate floor on Thursday. The state currently has 712 active projects, to which lawmakers had given at least $1 million as of September, accounting for $4.3 billion in total, according to data produced by legislative staff. Of those, 360 are on schedule, 75 are behind schedule and 277 have had no activity, or the local governments responsible have not sold the bonds needed to raise the money, or are facing 'significant obstacles to completion,' according to the report. 'We're spending the money the wrong way. We're wasting money,' Muñoz told the Senate Finance Committee. 'People show up with a project and an idea, and they have no plan. They don't know what the cost is. They just know we're giving away free money. Time and time again, we underfund projects and we don't ever complete them.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
While you were sleeping: Here's what the NM Legislature did last night
Rep. Derrick Lente (D-Sandia Pueblo) during Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's State of the State address. Lente, the sponsor for House Bill 450, which contains $1.2 billion in capital outlay projects from lawmakers, the executive and public entities, navigated an 'eleventh-hour' addition of a $10 million request for a reproductive clinic in Northern New Mexico, sparking a House GOP revolt over the bill in the session's last days. (Danielle Prokop / Source NM) Debate stretched into the evening Wednesday night at the Roundhouse, and New Mexico legislative committees convened into the wee hours of Thursday. Here's what happened if you had other plans (like sleeping). After hitting the three-hour rule of debate adopted in the lower chamber's rules, the House passed House Bill 450 along party lines after House Republicans revolted against a late-addition of a $10 million dollar proposed reproductive health clinic in Northern New Mexico. HB 450 contains $1.2 billion for capital outlay projects across the state, including$600 million in a general fund revenue split between local projects prioritized by House and Senate members and the governor, according to the analysis on the bill. Capital outlay now heads to the Senate side, which has a packed schedule Thursday including the possible tackle of a hefty tax package House Bill 14, which includes a new tax on the sale of oil and gas. The House also passed a bill earmarking $210 million for communities to respond and mitigate the impacts of climate change, carried by House Majority Floor Leader Reena Szczepanski (D-Santa Fe) and Sen Pro Tem Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque). Read our previous coverage here. Senate Bill 48, passed along a party line vote after hours of debate, and now heads to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's desk for approval. Lawmakers rejected three amendments proposed by Republicans on the floor. The House unanimously passed Senate Bill 41, which creates a system to send out statewide alerts when Indigenous people go missing. SB41 heads back to the Senate for concurrence — meaning that body will have to approve changes made by the House Judiciary committee. If passed, it will head to the fourth floor for the governor's consideration. House Judiciary, which convened at 10 p.m. and broke up just after 12:30 a.m., passed Senate Bill 16, which would allow 'decline to state' voters —aka independents— the ability to participate in primaries without changing their voter registrations, sending the bill to the House floor. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Business
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Lawmakers seek more than $1.2 billion to fund infrastructure projects in New Mexico
SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – Every session, lawmakers make funding requests for infrastructure projects across New Mexico. This year, these capital outlay funds, HB 450, total more than $1.2 billion and more than 1,400 projects statewide are on the list to receive funding. Story continues below Weather: Hazardous winds leave a trail of destruction in New Mexico Crime: ABQ police take 11-year-old into custody in connection to fatal hit and run Entertainment: These movies were filmed in Santa Fe. Have you seen them? During a committee hearing on Wednesday, lawmakers learned what those projects include. 'You know for many communities in our state, the capital outlay bill is their one and only source of revenue to do anything substantial for infrastructure in their communities,' said Representative Derrick Lente, (D-Sandia Pueblo). It's one of the most awaited bills during any legislative session, the capital outlay proposal includes funding for projects that the governor and lawmakers want to get done across the state. The bill gives nearly $4 million for Balloon Fiesta Park upgrades, including $1 million for a museum playground. Another $4 million dollars is going to fund the Domingo Baca Aquatic Center, which has been in the works since 2005. The University of New Mexico is getting more than $100 million in funding including, construction dollars for the College of Pharmacy and School of Medicine. In previous years, lawmakers have faced criticism over infrastructure projects that get started but sit uncompleted. During a committee hearing on Wednesday, Rep. Derrick Lente said having extra funds has helped them finish some of these projects. 'An additional 8 million dollars was provided for waterline expansions in Curry County. That fully funded that project that otherwise would never have received fully funding of that project,' said Rep. Lente. He said this year's bill set aside $50 million to help complete projects like improving water lines and fire stations, especially in rural communities. 'In this bill itself that it actually helps to complete projects versus just continuing a process where we give a little bit, we give a little bit, we give a little bit but never could fully fund it because the goal post is always moving because inflation affects things, prices go up right,' said Rep. Lente. During the committee meeting, some Republican lawmakers voted against the capital outlay bill, due to a project that the governor is funding, that would create a reproductive healthcare clinic that performs abortions. The package will be heard on the House floor Wednesday. If it passes there, it will then go to the Senate side. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
