SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – After a busy week, legislators are scheduled to deal with the big-picture merchandise of the session: the state finances. This afternoon, Friday January 28, the Senate Finance Committee will meet to study simply how a lot cash the state’s common fund holds.
The common fund, as its identify implies, is the state’s pool of funds for use for many any public goal. Cash from the fund goes to the state’s working finances, the primary distribution program that funds colleges, public well being, the court docket system, and so on.
This yr, the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) has predicted a progress within the state’s common fund. “Growth in general fund revenue estimates driven by a stronger economy and continued booming oil production coming out of the pandemic provide historic opportunities for the state,” they wrote of their fiscal yr 2023 finances advice.
Overall, the state is anticipated to have a little bit over $9 billion basically fund income, in accordance with the LFC. Of that, about $1.6 billion is “new money” that hasn’t already been deliberate for in earlier years.
KRQE News 13 beforehand detailed some key variations between how the Governor recommends spending the cash and the way the LFC recommends spending the funds. Ultimately, it’s possible {that a} compromise between each proposals can be made by the tip of the 2022 legislative session.
Several different committees may also meet all through the day. Here are some key issues to look out for.
Funding training
- Today, Friday January 28, there can be a joint House and Senate Education Committee listening to on the general public training finances for fiscal yr 2023.
- On the desk is House Bill 57, which might allocate funds for varsity busses and college transportation throughout the state. The invoice would, in impact, require the state’s Public Education Department to present colleges the identical allocations as they obtained within the earlier two years, in accordance with a Legislative Finance Committee fiscal report.
- KRQE News 13 beforehand reported on potential points in class bus funding. The advanced funding system generally underfunds districts and overfunds others at different instances, information from the Public Education Department reveals.
- Legislators may also talk about House Bill 103, which might give Central New Mexico Community College $5 million to start out a “venture studio.” The studio would “build and fund start-ups with product, legal, marketing, design, and development needs to help grow companies from idea to execution and beyond,” in accordance with a Legislative Finance Committee report.
Health laws
- Today, the House Health & Human Services Committee will meet to debate a couple of items of laws.
- They’ll talk about House Bill 95, which might assist the state establish taxpayers (and members of their households) who’re uninsured. The Human Services Department would then assist them navigate enrollment in medical health insurance, reminiscent of Medicaid.
- They’ll additionally talk about House Memorial 22, which might ask the state’s Human Services Department and Workforce Solutions Department to review the impression of a primary earnings in New Mexico.
- The launched memorial notes that New Mexico has one of many highest charges of childhood poverty within the nation, in accordance with information from the 2020 census. The memorial additionally notes that Santa Fe and Las Cruces have thought-about implementing a common primary earnings.
Elections, funds for information, and legislator salaries
- Today, Friday January 28, the House Government, Elections, and Indian Affairs Committee will talk about a number of items of laws.
- They’ll talk about House Joint Resolution 5, which might create a “state-sponsored” and “state-funded” main election system. It would enable registered voters to vote in a single social gathering’s main election, even when the voter hadn’t declared allegiance to the social gathering. A political social gathering might stop non-party-members from voting of their main in the event that they pay for your complete nomination course of.
- They’ll additionally talk about House Bill 114, which would offer $400,000 to spend on data-sharing agreements amongst teams working inside the realm of legal justice in Bernalillo County. Earlier this week, stakeholders offered testimony to legislators that communication and data-sharing is a matter inside the county’s legal justice system.
- The committee may also think about House Memorial 26, which might ask the University of New Mexico’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research to review how a lot time legislators do legislative work when the legislature shouldn’t be in session. Currently, work carried out exterior the standard 30 or 60 day classes are unpaid, though legislators do get reimbursed for miles pushed to committee conferences exterior of the session.