Photo Credit: New Mexico State Capitol Photo | Richard Wong Photography rwongphoto.com
(SANTA FE) – Welcome to the first edition of the New Mexico Senate Floor Wrap for the 57th Legislature. This daily output by the New Mexico Senate Majority Communications Office aims to provide a regular summary of legislation and action undertaken by the New Mexico Senate. Today the Senate considered confirmations as well as legislation pertaining to healthcare, education, and state investment procedure. Action today includes:
Mariana Padilla Confirmed as New Secretary of Public Education Department
By a unanimous vote of 40-0, the New Mexico Senate confirmed the appointment of Mariana Padilla as the Secretary of the Public Education Department. In introducing Secretary Padilla, President Pro Tempore Senator Mimi Stewart said, “Mariana is one of us – she’s an educator, her parents are educators, her siblings are educators. We had 28 letters of support, which doesn’t happen in the Senate Rules Committee, including 10 from Pueblo governors and the Navajo Nation, and we had her whole family.”
Following her time as an elementary school teacher in Albuquerque’s South Valley, Secretary Padilla served as Director of the New Mexico Children’s Cabinet, Senior Policy Advisor to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, and as a key congressional liaison working with communities throughout New Mexico.
Creating a Trust Fund to Stabilize Funding for Medicaid (Sponsored by Senator Muñoz
Passed with unanimous (37-0) support, SB 88/a creates the Medicaid Trust Fund (MTF) and the State Supported Fund. If federal Medicaid money decreases substantially, the state can reach into this fund to help cover costs.
Beginning in FY30, the MTF will make annual distributions of 5% of the average year-end balances of the MTF for the previous three years to a newly created State-Supported Medicaid Fund, provided the MTF balance is at least $500 million. These distributions would be administered by the New Mexico Health Care Authority, and available for appropriation by the legislature to support and match federal funds for the state Medicaid program. Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth cited that by latest estimate, 768,000 New Mexicans are using Medicaid.
“Medicaid is our biggest cost to the budget besides education and as state revenues grow, it’s wise for New Mexico to set up contingency options for whatever scenarios might be on the horizon,” said Senate Bill 88 sponsor and Senate Finance Chair George Munoz (D-Gallup). “As the Medicaid Trust Fund grows, this pool of money will help us stabilize our costs and uphold New Mexico’s promise to our kids, elders, and families.”
Improvements for Math Education (Sponsored by Senator Soules)
A 2024 report by PED found that test scores in 2022 ranked New Mexico as last in the nation for math. Senate Education Chair and Senate Bill 235 sponsor Bill Soules (D-Las Cruces) said, “As a retired math teacher and elementary principal I know firsthand, New Mexico needs to do better. Senate Bill 235 is the start of putting in place similar policies for math and math education as we do for reading to once and for instill in our kids that everyone can succeed in math.”
Senate Bill 235 establishes a series of screening tools for educators to proactively identify students struggling with math for individualized support.
Creates a Task Force for Frontier Areas (Sponsored by Senator Campos)
Senate Joint Memorial 2 passed 39-0, requesting that the governor appoint a task force to study the needs of frontier areas, meaning unincorporated areas of a county that are sparsely populated and isolated from larger population centers and services, including rural communities.
Programming Note: Hoops4Hope Charity Basketball Game Tomorrow
Tomorrow (3/6/25) at 7:00pm the Senate Lobos will challenge the House Aggies in the Hoops4Hope Annual Legislative Basketball Game at the Santa Fe Indian School. Since 2000 New Mexico legislators have taken to the basketball court to settle their differences in the final days of the state’s legislative session, and in 2004 this tradition turned into a charity event in honor of the late NM Rep. Ray Ruiz. To date, the Hoops4Hope Annual Legislative Basketball Game has raised over $300,000 for the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center. More information about this event can be found at https://hsc.unm.edu/news/2025/02/unmccc-hoops-4-hope.html.
Additional Business:
· Heather Jordan confirmed as new Director of Workers’ Compensation Administration
· Senate Joint Memorial 1/a – FOREST RESTORATION & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, Sen. Padilla (Passes 39-0)
· Senate Bill 119 – INVESTMENT IN BIOSCIENCE COMPANIES, Sen. Hickey & Sen. Muñoz (Passes 26-15)
The New Mexico Senate will reconvene at 11:00am on Thursday, March 6, 2025.
*- Submitted by NM Senate Democrats. Any views or opinions stated do not reflect Bravo Mic Communications or KDEM-FM radio but belong solely to the submitter.
Chris Nordstrum [email protected] 505-986-4819