NM Political Report (https://nmpoliticalreport.com/2021/12/12/senate-committee-tables-bill-to-property-335-million-in-relief-funds-on-public-health/)
The New Mexico State Capitol, or Roundhouse Wikicommons.
The Senate Finance Committee proposed a bill requiring a 6 to 1 vote to use US$335 million of the US$1.69 billion in the U.S. Rescue Plan Act for public health issues in the state, but committee members recommended the bill’s The sponsor resubmitted the bill to the state. regular meeting.
Sponsored by State Senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, the SB 9 bill will allocate US$50 million to the UNM Board of Directors to establish a School of Public Health and a facility at the University of New Mexico’s UNM Health Science Center on campus. .
Co-sponsor, D-Albuquerque State Senator Martin Hickey said that a “center of excellence” public health school will attract top researchers, they will bring in funding, and as students enroll, this will largely make The school pays.
The other money will be used to pay for equipment used to help cancer treatment; expand behavioral health services statewide, expand nursing staff, and pay the expected salary and operating budget of the School of Public Health.
An additional $10 million will be used by the Ministry of Health to collaborate with UNM to provide obstetric care in Las Vegas and Gallup. Another $10 million will provide perinatal care statewide.
Ortiz y Pino stated that he would like to see the use of one-time ARPA funds more "transformative."
"We had hoped that the opportunity to obtain funding through ARPA might be an opportunity for some major innovation in the state," he said.
State Senator Joseph Cervantes (D-Las Cruces) said that when the legislature saw HB 2 allocate part of ARPA funds to agencies for direct expenditure, “we were all a little disappointed.”
"HB 2 looks like a typical capital expenditure for the LFC review. I do not criticize their assessment. We are using this one-time opportunity to obtain a transformative level of funding and carry out road projects and other projects that we are accustomed to. It seems It's an opportunity that may be wasted," Cervantes said.
Several committee members discussed in detail the need to support public health in the state, but some members expressed concern about the timing of the bill and suggested that the sponsors restore it at regular meetings.
Other concerns raised include that so much funding will go to the University of New Mexico instead of New Mexico State University, or that the funding will not be more widely distributed across the state.
Dr. Tracie Collins, former Minister of Health and Dean of UNM's School of Population Health, stated that the bill "does include NMSU."
Hickey said that the bigger idea behind the bill is that UNM will cooperate with NMSU and Eastern New Mexico University and Western New Mexico University. However, Hickey said that he had no chance to contact ENMU or WNMU about this idea. He did not make it clear whether he had been in contact with NMSU.
State Senator Pat Woods of R-Broadview said he wanted to know if the UNM board requested the plan.
"I think it's a bit premature. I don't think we need to act on this now. You gave us a good idea. I can't support it at the moment. I think we need to advance it a bit," he said.
Albuquerque State Senator Jacob Candelaria, Ranchos de Taos' Robert Gonzales, Silver City's Siah Correa Hemphill, all Democrats and state senators Crystal Diamond and R-Elephant Butte were absent. State Senator Jeff Steinborn (D-Las Cruces) was the only one who did not vote.
The Senate Finance Committee approved a revised version of the bill to immediately distribute parts of the American rescue plan bill to various agencies. The HB 2 amendment was passed unanimously, canceling the $26 million allocated for broadband and reducing the overall funding plan to approximately $478 million.
View all quick reading articles →
The Senate Finance Committee approved a revised version of the bill to immediately distribute parts of the American rescue plan bill to various agencies. The HB 2 amendment was passed unanimously, canceling the $26 million allocated for broadband and reducing the overall funding plan to approximately $478 million.
View all U.S. Rescue Program Act articles →
Starting Monday, April 5th, all New Mexicans over the age of 16 will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, entering the "second phase" of the state's vaccine distribution plan. This is because New Mexico is still a leader in COVID-19 vaccine management.
View all Dr. Tracie Collins articles →
After a long debate that lasted until the early hours of Friday morning, the State Senate passed the Healthy Workplace Bill by a vote of 25 to 16. People opposed the bill and even held a lengthy obstruction bill. HB 20 will require all private sector employers to provide one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked.
View all Gerald Ortiz Y Pino articles →
During the two-hour hearing of the Senate Finance Committee on HB 2, the committee learned that the bill has issues that may require legislative changes. The director of the Game and Fish Department, Michael Sloan, told the committee at the hearing that the department did not ask for $5 million in the bill to be allocated for property acquisition.
View all HB 2 articles →
During the two-hour hearing of the Senate Finance Committee on HB 2, the committee learned that the bill has issues that may require legislative changes. The director of the Game and Fish Department, Michael Sloan, told the committee at the hearing that the department did not ask for $5 million in the bill to be allocated for property acquisition.
View all posts by Jeff Steinborn →
The New Mexico State Senate Judiciary Committee voted 6-2 on Sunday to pass a bill aimed at redefining their Senate districts, although many Native Americans and tribes asked not to do so. The original proposal SB 2 adopted the Native American Consensus Plan, which was recommended to the legislature by the State's Citizens Redistricting Committee to create a stronger Native American voting district. The new version of the bill changes the boundaries of electoral districts to protect the six Republican senators from being matched.
The Senate Finance Committee approved a revised version of the bill to immediately distribute parts of the American rescue plan bill to various agencies.
The New Mexico House of Representatives presented a proposal on Saturday that would re-divide the state's congressional districts, dividing most of the Albuquerque city area with the southern rural areas at a ratio of 44-24.
© Copyright 2015-2021, NM Political Report
The website was built by INN’s Project Largo and proudly powered by WordPress.