Sen. John Arthur SmithSTATE News:
SANTA FE — The Senate passed the Senate Finance Committee’s amended House Bill 2 (HB 2) on a 39-1 vote Monday that includes minor to modest budget increases for the corrections and law enforcement, the Children Youth and Families Department and public schools, including salary increases for Level II and III teachers.
HB 2 as amended by the Senate now heads back to the House of Representatives for concurrence.
However, the adjusted budget will include about a 2 percent decrease to the budgets of all other state departments and agencies. Senators and financial experts from the staff of the Legislative Finance Committee worked to sweep unused balances from throughout state agency budgets to cover a projected budget shortfall that was at times estimated to be as high as $800 million.
The Senate’s amended budget was able to accomplish this while reducing the House of Representatives’ initial budget by $88 million.
The Senate’s budget amendment is based on current projected revenues and will have to be adjusted again if revenues continue to fall, Senator Finance Committee Chair John Arthur Smith, D-35, Dona Ana, Hidlago, Luna & Sierra, told his fellow Senators during the floor debate.
It also will draw down the reserves fund by nearly in half to about 5.6 percent. Sen. Smith told the Senate that a special session might be necessary if revenue forecasts don’t bottom out and begin to rise.
The SFC amendment totals about $6.228 billion, down from the $6.235 billion budget passed last year. It also reflects a $20 million increase to Medicaid funding, which is matched at 3-to-1 by the federal government.
CYFD will receive an extra $5 million for children protection services, including the hiring of more social workers. In addition, the amendment calls for a $19 million decrease to the higher education budgets throughout the state.