In the final days of this year’s 2024 New Mexico State Legislature session, lawmakers gave their approval to a measure that will free up tens of millions of dollars in funding for capital outlay projects across the state.
Senate Bill 246, as proposed by Democrat Senator Nancy Rodriguez, is specifically designed to reauthorize funding for projects earlier approved by lawmakers but never used.
Altogether, some 253 capital outlay projects will be impacted, projects earlier funded by severance tax bonds and through the state’s general fund, among other sources.
The need for expenditure extensions, according to an analysis put together by the Legislative Finance Committee, “may reflect projects that were not ready to start or may have been delayed due to labor and supply shortages and cost escalations.”
Some of the projects were also delayed due to the impact of the Covid 19 outbreak.
The hundreds of projects in question include everything from flood control infrastructure at the Columbus Port of Entry, to improvements to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in the village of Angel Fire, and information technology upgrades in the Santa Fe Public School district.
There are currently more than 50 such projects in Bernalillo County, almost half that many in Dona Ana County, and another nearly two dozen projects in Roosevelt County.
According to various reports, there may be as much as $5 billion in approved capital outlay funds that have not been used.
In proposing the legislation, Rodriguez noted that one of the reasons why so many projects have not become reality is that often local government entities don’t receive the required paperwork from the state in a timely fashion.
After winning the approval of the Senate Taxation & Revenue Committee, the legislation was overwhelmingly passed by the full House and Senate membership.
By Garry Boulard
