STATE News:

SANTA FE – The House of Representatives has passed a budget for the next spending year that begins July 2013. HB 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 would provide $5.907 billion in state spending, an increase of $255 million over this year’s budget.

That amount includes both recurring and non-recurring items. The total appropriations contained in the bills would leave the state with reserves of $589.2 million or 10 percent of fiscal year 2014 recurring appropriation levels next fiscal year.

The bulk of the budget would go toward education – 57 percent. Public education gets 44 percent and higher education will get 13 percent. The remaining appropriations go toward health, hospitals and human services.

• 2.567 billion for Public Education (increase of $96.473 million or 4.6 percent, which includes a 1 percent salary increase)
• 786.1 million for Higher Education (increase of $28.5 million or 3.8 percent, plus 5.8 million for a 1 percent salary increase)
• 931.7 million for Medicaid (increase of $26.7 million or 3.0 percent)
• 301.213 million for Dept. of Health (increase of 9.2 million or 3.2 percent)
• 219.187 million for Children, Youth and Families Dept. (increase of $11.455 million or 5.5 percent)
• 13.9 million for State Employee Compensation (increase of one percent and an additional 3 percent for State Police and Motor Transportation)

“Preparing a budget is such a monumental task,” says the Chair of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee, Rep. Henry “Kiki” Saavedra (D-Bernalillo-10.) “We work on it throughout the year during the interim and then refine it as we get more concrete fiscal numbers. I am so grateful to my Appropriations Committee for all the hard work they’ve put into this effort. We’ve come up with something that’s fair, balanced, and workable for all New Mexicans.”

Deputy Chair of the HAFC, Rep. Luciano “Lucky” Varela (D-Santa Fe-48), adds, “Everyone brought their needs forward and all the issues were addressed during the interim. I’m impressed with the way the sub committees worked. Let’s look at the entire picture. This is the best budget we could put together.”

The budget plan now goes to the Senate for consideration.