House Leaders Agree To Share Pain With State Agencies

House Republican Leader Nate Gentry

From House Republican Communications

SANTA FEThe House of Representatives unanimously voted to require legislative agencies to endure the same budget cuts experienced by New Mexico’s state agencies when they passed a compromise amendment to House Bill 1 earlier today.

House Bill 1, or the “Feed Bill,” funds the operations of the legislature, covering both session expenses as well as interim activities. In the 2016 special session, the legislature agreed to reduce funding for legislative support agencies by 3 percent. Today, in a compromise amendment offered by House Republican Leader Nate Gentry (R-Bernalillo), the House agreed to take an additional 2.5 percent cut to bring the total reduction to 5.5 percent, the same reduction Gov. Susana Martinez applied to state agencies.

In addition, the House agreed to reduce its session appropriation for 2015 through 2017 by more than $600,000.

“Having the legislature share equally in these budget cuts is the right and fair thing for us to do,” Gentry said. “This body should not ask state agencies to do more with less and then exempt itself from making the same sacrifices. I appreciate Speaker Egolf’s willingness to work with us to ensure we are doing our part to address our current budget reality.”

The reductions contained in Gentry’s amendment will save the state more than $1 million.

House Bill 1 now moves to the Senate for consideration.

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