Legislative Finance Committee

The Legislature has appropriated nearly $200 million to the rural health care delivery fund to improve healthcare access in rural counties, but the program lacks standards and it is unclear if the spending has resulted in improvements.

New Mexico has improved its timeliness in delivering food benefits, but its error rate has worsened.

The Legislative Finance Committee today released a budget recommendation for the 2026-2027 fiscal year that calls for spending $11.1 billion from the state’s general fund, a 2.5 percent, or $268 million, increase over FY26 planned spending.

Press Release Packet
Legislating for Results: Policy and Performance Analysis
Legislating for Results: Appropriation Recommendations
Legislating for Results: Supplemental Tables and Graphs

Both violent and property crime rates have fallen since a recent peak in 2018, but they remain above the national average and persistently high.

Almost three-quarters of funding in programs surveyed for the 2025 inventory of evidence-based programs was targeted at evidence- or research-based approaches, up from 2024.

Estimates of recurring revenue for the current budget year have been revised down $323 million from the August forecast, with the $13.383 billion now expected in total recurring revenue 1.6 percent less than revenue earned in the 2025 fiscal year that ended in June. However, while “total new money”—total revenues less total spending—is down, budget drafters still have the flexibility to increase recurring spending by reducing nonrecurring expenditures.

New Mexico’s public school capital outlay funding formula is more fair than the funding mechanisms in many states, but a growing number of requests for exceptions to the rules suggest the need for changes.

New Mexico juvenile justice reforms to divert low-risk offenders from confinement has led to far fewer youth in secure facilities, but the state lacks the prevention and treatment services to keep low-risk juveniles from returning to the justice system.