Rep. Cristina Parajón, D-Albuquerque, center, speaks with Rep. Mark Duncan, R-Farmington, left, and House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, during the House floor session on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. Matt Dahlseid/The New Mexican
The Santa Fe New Mexican Staff Report
Budget battle: The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to take up New Mexico’s $11.1 billion spending plan Saturday.
Sen. George Muñoz, a Gallup Democrat who chairs the committee, said the panel made some 356 changes to the version of House Bill 2 passed by the House.
The revised spending plan proposes a 2.65% increase in recurring spending for the coming fiscal year, which is slightly lower than the House version.
The proposed budget the committee will consider also doesn’t include any raises for state employees, though it would increase the employer share of health insurance premiums for public school employees after the state did so for other employees last year. The bill had 1% raises when it passed the House.
“Not everybody gets everything they want,” Muñoz said.
The plan to not give them raises has proven controversial with the affected employees. A group of unions representing the state’s teachers and other state workers plans to hold a news conference at the Roundhouse Saturday to protest the change.
“Cutting this raise during this challenging economic environment destroys morale and makes it harder to recruit and retain qualified professionals at a time when stability and experience are urgently needed,” the unions said in a statement. “Public workers keep our communities functioning, by providing essential services, ensuring public safety, educating our kids, and maintaining critical infrastructure.”
Three cheers for Santa Fe: The Senate celebrated Santa Fe County Day Friday morning.
“Today, we honor Santa Fe County for its leadership, continued history and service to our state,” said Sen. Leo Jaramillo, R-Española, who said he was particularly proud his district includes small communities in northern Santa Fe County that embody the region’s history and traditions.
Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, whose district includes the eastern part of the city plus rural areas from Tesuque to Glorieta, said his district contains “all these wonderful things that make Santa Fe County so special.”
Wirth said that although people often think of his district as urban, it changes quickly when you leave city limits. He recalled campaigning going door to door in Cañada de los Alamos.
“It felt like you were in a different place from the rest of the city,” he said.
No troops, ICE at polls heads to Senate: Two measures designed to make it harder for the Trump administration to station soldiers or Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at polling places during the upcoming midterm elections are continuing to move quickly through the Legislature.
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Senate bills 261 and 264 on party-line votes Friday afternoon. Having already gone through the Senate Rules Committee, they now head to the full Senate for consideration.
The bills would make it a felony in New Mexico for federal troops to be deployed to polling places and ban the carrying of firearms at polling places in most cases, expanding on a ban on guns at polling places passed in 2024.
Quotes of the day: “They don’t card me anymore. … I was so mad, I was like, ‘You better card me next time.’ “ —Rep. John Block, R-Alamogordo, who is the youngest member of the Legislature, shared his experience buying alcohol, during a discussion with Rep. Cristina Parajón, D-Albuquerque on the House floor about how they weren’t alive the last time a bill similar to the one being discussed came up for debate.
“It’s about time that Senator Block removed that block off his shoulder.” —Sen. Candy Spence Ezzell, R-Roswell, after Sen. Jay Block, R-Rio Rancho, said he was reluctant to vote for a memorial renaming a road in Roswell after golfer Nancy Lopez. Lopez’s husband, Ray Knight, was a third baseman on the New York Mets team that beat Block’s Boston Red Sox in the 1986 World Series. Block did end up voting for Senate Memorial 6, which passed unanimously.