Next Tuesday, Jan. 21, marks the opening day of the First Session of the 57th New Mexico Legislature. This year, as with all odd-numbered years, the 60-day legislative session will focus on the budget and any bill or policy issue that a legislator wants to bring forward.
While New Mexico legislators were busy preparing and pre-filing bills, The University of New Mexico created a list of important legislative priorities for the legislative session highlighting the University’s 2040 goals. As the flagship university for the state of New Mexico, UNM’s 2040 goals have been designed as part of its long-term strategic plan to achieve a vibrant and thriving society to build a healthier, better educated and more economically robust New Mexico and are instrumental to the institution’s legislative priorities.
How to track bills of interest...
Legislators have been busy filing proposed legislation that will be considered during this year’s 60-day session. UNM will be tracking several bills impacting its main and branch campuses, including HSC, Human Resources, retirement, the budget, and higher education in general.
UNM’s Office of Government & Community Relations will keep the campus community apprised of bills of interest to the University on the UNM Bill Tracker. UNM also encourages friends, family, neighbors, and colleagues to sign up for Legislative updates. The goal is to keep the campus community apprised of the process and provide the info you’ll need to navigate the 2025 legislative session.
With more than $892 million in “new” revenue projections anticipated, legislators and the executive branch will decide the best way to invest in New Mexico when the session opens. “New money” is defined as projected recurring revenues for the following fiscal year minus current year recurring appropriations.
The FY26 Executive Budget Recommendation from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration totals $10.9 billion in recurring spending, an increase of 5.3 percent from FY25. The governor’s recommendations also include an additional $172 million for state employee pay raises, which includes additional compensation for New Mexico educators. The executive recommendation also maintains reserves at 30.4 percent. For FY26, the overall higher education recommendation includes $1.4 billion in recurring general fund appropriations to the Higher Education Department and New Mexico higher education institutions, which includes $146 million for the Opportunity Scholarship.
Similarly, the FY26 Legislative Budget Recommendation from the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) similarly totals $10.8 billion, a 5.7 percent increase, or $577 million increase over FY25 spending. Reserves would be 33 percent of planned spending. The Higher Education Department and the state’s colleges and universities would get $36 million more in FY26 over FY25, or almost 3 percent. The increase includes an additional $21 million for funding distributed to schools through a formula, $3 million for mental health and other student support services, and $2 million for pay raises at the Health Sciences Center.
The session will end at noon on Saturday, March 22.
The following gives a brief glimpse of The University of New Mexico’s Fiscal Year 2025 legislative priorities
Improve Health Care Access and Health Outcomes Statewide
- address workforce gaps, improve care access, and drive health innovation.
- Integrate clinical care, research, prevention, and public health strategies to reduce substance use disorder.
- Enhance provider reimbursement rates and incentives for recruitment, education, training, and practice in New Mexico’s rural and underserved areas.
- Support a flexible health care system that enables providers to adapt to patient care needs.
Contribute to a Diversified New Mexico Economy and a Well Educated, Homegrown Workforce
- Foster workforce collaborations aligning education with government, industry, national labs, and clean energy sectors.
- Expand infrastructure for research, education, and training in emerging sciences like quantum information science and AI.
- Increase state investments in research, tech development, advanced energy transitions, and new business growth, including the Technology Enhancement Fund.
- Expand STEM-H education capacity and improve pre-K-12 math and literacy outcomes.
- Support UNM infrastructure improvements for student-centered learning and energy efficiency.
- Strengthen educational pathways between New Mexico’s pre-K-12 system, UNM branch campuses, and UNM’s Albuquerque campus.
Enhance Equitable Educational Access, Student Support Services and Campus Safety
- Support funding increases for I&G, UNM RPSPs, capital requests, and targeted appropriations for safety, accessibility, cybersecurity, and facility renewal.
- Sustain state investments in the Opportunity and Lottery Scholarship programs.
- Enhance inclusivity in programs and services to reflect New Mexico’s diverse cultural identities.
- Expand access to health, wellbeing, and basic needs support programs for students.
- Advocate for ASUNM and GPSA on scholarship funding, program support, and capital requests.
- Increase faculty and program endowments to improve student services.
- Upgrade Lobo Athletics facilities and boost support for student-athlete success.
Improve New Mexico’s National Competitiveness and Resident Quality of Life
- Fully fund a minimum 4% compensation increase for all employees, with additional targeted increases for faculty and flexibility to address pay inequities.
- Support capital projects that attract new learners and top faculty.
- Strengthen recruitment and retention incentives for faculty, staff, and health professionals.
- Advocate for policies balancing crime prevention with community support services for issues like substance use, behavioral health, and criminal competency.
- Expand existing loan-for-service and loan repayment programs.
In terms of specific capital outlay projects, UNM has identified several campus and infrastructure projects also interconnected to the UNM 2040 Goals including:
Central Campus
- Humanities & Social Sciences Complex ($59 million)
- Title IX Improvements ($18 million)
- Integrated Computing Research, Education & Data Center ($17. 2 million)
- NM Law Center Building Renovation ($16 million)
- Police Department Headquarters ($8 million)
Health Sciences Capital Priorities
- College of Pharmacy Renovation Phase 2 ($28.5 million)
- School of Medicine (Fitz Hall) New Facility Plan & Design ($37 million)
- Domenici Hall MRI ($2.8 million)
- Simulation & Research Equipment ($1.3 million)
UNM Branch Campuses
Gallup campus
- Campuswide Facilities Repair & Renewal ($1.1 million)
Los Alamos Campus
- Student Services Center Renovation ($2.7 million)
- Open Space Design & Upgrade Phase 2 ($2.2 million)
Taos Campus
- Observatory & Space STEM Center Supplemental ($12.8 million)
- Taos Workforce Center ($6.2 million)
Valencia Campus
- Workforce Training Center Classroom Modifications ($3.5 million)
For more information on the 2025 Legislative Session, visit Government Relations.