On Monday the House Appropriations and finance committee advanced Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s $7.6 Billion budget plan for next year. While the plan does not include funding for the Governor’s highly publicized free college tuition plan, legislators did include nearly $35 million in one-time allocations for higher education financial aid programs.  The budget plan also proposes a reserve of 26% in case of market downturns for the highly profitable Permian oil patch which provided for the state’s record revenue.

The Budget plan also includes a 5% salary increase for New Mexico’s teachers, and a 3% increase for state employees. The Governor’s office stated that the teacher raises were “long overdue  and absolutely essential” but needed to remain “sustainable.” Read more HERE.