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The New Mexico Legislature this year will spend more than $320 million on hundreds of local projects requested by lawmakers and 16 carefully selected pilot programs that will receive three years of funding to determine whether they are effective. was spent.
The Government Outcomes and Opportunities Projects Fund is a newly established hub for statewide pilot programs and projects funded through what was previously known as the “Junior” Supplemental Appropriations Bill.
In addition to the $320.6 million in small projects outlined in the budget that will be funded over the next three years, state lawmakers also put an additional $512.2 million into a new trust fund overseen by the New Mexico Investment Council. Deposited.
That additional funding will be invested and expected to continue to grow and fund projects over the next three years.
Funding local projects in this way is a recommendation of the New Mexico Legislative Finance Commission, which said the trust fund would leverage into future years the roughly $3.5 billion surplus the state enjoyed this year. At the same time, he argued, it was a way to rein in spending on state programs that could have negative future consequences. Eventually it will fail.
The “junior” spending process has been criticized in the past for its lack of transparency. Until recently, it was difficult to know which legislators sponsored which projects. The state Department of Finance and Administration recently released a detailed list of “junior” appropriations for fiscal years 2021 through 2024. Projects for fiscal year 2025 are listed below.
Rep. Nathan Small (D-Las Cruces), Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said: Sponsoring House Bill 196, created a fund. It was approved by the New Mexico Finance Committee and passed by the Senate on Wednesday, February 14th. During the hearing, he said one of the benefits of the new process is that it will increase evaluation and accountability for state spending.
Any uninvested portion of the new funds will be used to pay for 15 three-year pilot projects at multiple state agencies. It also funds 344 small projects requested by lawmakers and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham that will be funded over the next two years.
Search the list of projects
The 16 pilot projects will cost $216 million over the next three years. The costs of these projects range from $1.5 million, which includes suicide prevention training, to $60 million, which covers tuition and fees for students taking workforce training classes at some state universities.
The smaller project will cost $104.6 million over the next two years. Most of these projects cost him between $160,000 and $200,000, but some cost millions of dollars.
The 344 projects funded with that money will pay for a wide range of programs, including marketing bike races in Silver City, further funding for Albuquerque’s food bank, civil legal services across the state, and more.
See the searchable list below. The list does not include the lawmakers who sponsored each project because Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has not yet signed the budget, according to legislative staff. SOURCE New Mexico The list will be updated as soon as the names of the members are announced.
But in the meantime, you can search for projects by keyword and sort by agency, county, and award amount.
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