Legislative Finance Committee

New Mexico lacks statewide requirements for internal audit and inspector general functions in state agencies, and professional standards, independence safeguards, recommendation follow-up, and public transparency remain inconsistent across agencies.

The four largest ongoing IT projects in the state are expected to run almost half a billion dollars over their original budgets, report, but changes in IT spending and project management could lead to lower costs and more successful projects.

School leadership is second only to classroom instruction for its impact on student learning, but a third of New Mexico public school principals leave their posts every year and turnover is highest in the low performing schools.

State spending would need to grow less than 6 percent a year to stay within long-term revenue projections, but state agencies, even without public schools and colleges, have asked for budget increases averaging close to 16 percent for the next fiscal year.

More housing is being built in New Mexico, but the state’s nearly three-quarter billion dollar contribution to housing availability has had a limited impact and system changes might be needed to make a difference.

Results for America, a national nonprofit focused on evidence-based decision-making in government, has awarded New Mexico with platinum certification, the highest possible, for its work on results-driven budgeting and performance analysis.

At the end of the fourth quarter of 2025-2026 fiscal year, outstanding capital outlay balances totaled $7.6 billion across more than 6,400 active projects.76