House Appropriations Committee advances budget substitute for HB2 and HB3 after debate over court and jobs funding

The House Appropriations and Finance Committee voted to advance a committee substitute for House Bill 2 and House Bill 3 on 2026-02-04 after adopting technical corrections earlier in the session.

Chair Small opened the meeting and asked agency directors to brief the committee. An LFC staff member described the package as containing "a little over $300,000,000 of water investments," including "$100,000,000 to the water project fund," and said the bill sets aside "over $200,000,000" for innovative economic development funding while keeping recurring spending growth low.

Director Salee provided a detailed review, saying the bill "grows recurring spending less than $300,000,000 ... about 2.7%" and includes roughly $2,600,000,000 in nonrecurring spending and transfers. He told the committee federal funds amount to about $13,400,000,000 and that, "once we include federal funds ... you're looking at right around a $33,000,000,000 recurring budget." Salee also highlighted investments to expand the University of New Mexico Medical School and targeted health-care workforce supports including loan repayment and raises for medical residents.

On reserves, Salee said the proposal would leave operating reserves "north of $450,000,000, should everything hold," while warning that spending from the reserve for natural disasters remains a risk if other bills are not agreed to and passed.

Procedural actions: Vice Chair Dixon moved to adopt the technical corrections as reviewed by the technical subcommittee; Ranking Member Chatfield seconded the motion and, with no opposition voiced, the committee adopted the corrections. Later, Dixon moved that the committee "do pass" HB2 and HB3 on the House Appropriations and Finance Committee substitute; Chatfield seconded and the committee held a roll call. Recorded "Yes" votes included Representatives Baca, Chatfield, Duncan, Hernandez, Herndon, (a recorded 'Yes' at SEG 347 for 'Representative Pedrera'), Little, Luhan, Sanchez, Saliniana, Silva, Vincent, Vice Chair Dixon and Chair Small. Recorded "No" votes included Representatives Brown, Dow and Pettigrew. The chair announced the motion carried.

Members' concerns: Representative Brown, who voted no, thanked staff but said he was "very concerned" the budget "is not doing enough for the courts, the district attorneys, and the public defenders," citing personnel shortages, burnout and the need to improve those numbers in the next budget. Representative Pettigrew, also a no vote, said while he appreciated the committee's transparency he had "philosophical, biblical, and constitutional" objections and said the package simultaneously "creates economic development" in some places while "destroying" jobs elsewhere.

The committee adjourned after briefly recognizing budget director Amanda Breiding’s birthday.

What the committee did not decide: The committee approved a committee substitute and forwarded the measure; the full House will still need to consider the substitute and any further amendments. Funding levels and program details cited in testimony (for example, the water project fund and reserve projections) were described by staff and appear in the committee packet; the transcript records those staff figures but does not record subsequent legislative action or final enacted amounts.