GUEST EDITORIAL: Strategic spending for a stronger New Mexico or beyond the boom

The New Mexico Legislature has taken advantage of several years of extraordinary revenue growth by investing in New Mexico’s future: education, health care access, economic development and funding stability.

With state coffers filled by the revenue boom, we created endowments for higher education scholarships, expanded career-technical education in community colleges and high schools, and made early childhood care nearly universal. We established supports for rural hospitals, expanded access to health care coverage and took steps to recruit and retain health care providers. We’ve funded infrastructure improvements, creating jobs at the same time we improved public facilities, and funded workforce and industry development. We’ve created endowments that generate income for natural resources, health care and other services; added billions to state investment funds that generate stable interest income; and created systems for capturing excess revenue to save for the future.

And that’s just a partial list.

Unfortunately, those years of double-digit revenue growth are over. The latest revenue estimates put growth for the budget year we are in now at less than a half percent and growth for the budget year starting in July 2026 at 2.9%. Exacerbating the slow-down in revenue growth is the pressure to spend more on basic services to partially offset the federal cuts to Medicaid, food stamps and other programs.

But that doesn’t mean the end to investing in New Mexico’s future. It just means we must focus on the programs that have the potential to do the most good. We will not abandon the many New Mexicans who rely on Medicaid or the hospitals in their communities. We won’t leave families hungry. We will take care of our most vulnerable neighbors even as we build on the revolutionary efforts of the last few years.

Perhaps no area of state government needs thoughtful, strategic investment more than the public schools. Funding for the public schools has increased 70% in the eight years since the state district court in the Martinez-Yazzie found the state was providing New Mexico’s children with an inadequate education, but the dismal student performance that triggered that finding has changed little.

Now that money is tightening, New Mexico budget drafters will have to focus new spending on those programs that make the most difference — language arts and math programs that actually improve performance, early childhood education that sets up very young children for future academic and life success, secondary education with robust career and technical options that prepare our teens for college or career.

New Mexico spends more on higher education than almost any state — investments in higher education have made an education at one of the state’s public colleges basically tuition free — but we still have one of the poorest graduation rates. Future investments in education must focus on approaches that will keep students in school.

Budget drafters must also continue to work to make health care accessible, not just by making it affordable but also by ensuring health care providers are available. We must develop strategic plans to support our hospitals, especially those in rural communities that are fragile and may be on the verge of closing. It is also crucial to support the University of New Mexico Hospital, the hub of New Mexico’s health care system. UNMH provides needed emergency care for people throughout our state, conducts research leading to cures, provides culturally sensitive that recognizes the traditions of our diverse population; and is growing its educational programs to increase the number of healthcare providers serving all parts of our state.

Finally, we must continue to invest in the state’s economy by supporting worker and business development and by continuing to build — water and wastewater systems, parks and roads all contribute to our quality of life, and their construction stimulates spending and creates jobs.

A purposeful approach to investing in New Mexico is not just about repairing outdated facilities or filling gaps. It’s about shaping a future where resources are directed with a vision for how New Mexicans will learn, grow and thrive. We must not just fund state programs — we must invest with a deep commitment to the whole of New Mexico and on solutions that strengthen our educational system, uplift communities and prepare every student for success.