ABQ City Council passes record budget, and argues over employee pay — Daniel Montaño, KUNM
Albuquerque’s City Council passed a record $1.5-billion budget Monday night, but the approval came with plenty of disagreement, especially when it came to city employees' pay.
Councilors debated for two hours over differing amendments that cut money from different departments to invest in others, but one of the most controversial was an amendment that would have added an additional 1% raise to city employees’ annual cost of living adjustment, or COLA.
There were a variety of proposals for how to pay for the amendment, including ideas prioritized by Mayor Tim Keller’s administration. Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn, however, said the mayor's plan cuts too much money from departments and programs prioritized by the council.
“That’s easy picking for the administration to develop a proposal because they didn’t have it in the original budget,” she said, “but we have added those things in because they’re important to us and to our constituents.”
Ultimately the amendment failed, and instead the council passed another amendment that only increased the COLA by an additional half a percent, to a total pay raise of 2.5% for non-union city employees. That amendment was sponsored by Councilor Renee Grout.
“I wish that I could give everybody a 5% increase, but being fiscally responsible we don’t have that money,” Grout said. “It’s important that we take care of our employees, but we also take care of the assets the city has.”
Councillor Nichole Rogers shot back that she thinks city employees are the most important asset for the city.
“You know all of the things we’re talking about cutting, I understand they’re important, but to me our employees are more important. This is hard for me. I just have to say that,” Rogers said. “This is hard, and I think we could have done better if we all would have worked together, but we didn’t. So that’s our fault.”
The top funded department in the final budget is the Albuquerque Police Department, which has a total budget just short of $274 million, followed by Albuquerque Fire Rescue at almost $129 million, and then the Group Self-insurance Fund, which supports the health and well-being of city employees, at about $101 million.
Support for this Coverage comes from the W.K. Kellogg foundation.
New Technology and Innovation Office to support state’s growth in targeted industries — Leah Romero, Source New Mexico
State officials say a new Technology and Innovation Office within New Mexico’s Economic Development Department is expected to advance economic growth in the state and provide funding for startup companies.
House Bill 20, sponsored by Rep. Meredith Dixon (D-Albuquerque) during the most recent legislative session, establishes the Technology and Innovation Office, as well as the Research, Development and Deployment Fund with more than $90 million appropriated to support early tech businesses; match funds for research and development; support recruitment and retention; and boost New Mexico’s quantum technologies sector.
“There is a lot going on in this state. We have some of the best talent and technology coming out of the labs and our universities,” Dixon told Source NM. “I would say that one of the most important things we can do is make sure that the companies that start here are able to stay here.”
According to a news release from the EDD, the department’s new division will “absorb the existing Office of Strategy, Science and Technology” and the office’s director, Nora Meyers Sackett, will continue in her role.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the bill on April 9 and it goes into effect on July 1.
“New Mexico’s trajectory in the fields of science and technology is clear, and this landmark investment accelerates that,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “With our deep bench in innovation, we’re creating momentum that will drive prosperity well into the future.”
HB20 also establishes the Technology and Innovation Network Advisory Board, representing New Mexico’s national labs, universities, the private sector and several other economic areas, and will help administer the Research, Development and Deployment Fund.
Dixon noted that in a 2021 report, the Economic Development Department identified nine target industries to help diversify the state’s economy, including aerospace; biosciences; cybersecurity; film and television; outdoor recreation; sustainable and value-added agriculture; intelligent manufacturing; global trade; and sustainable and green energy. She added that these sectors offer “high-growth” and “high-paying” jobs for a wide range of New Mexicans.
“New Mexico is uniquely positioned in a number of these high growth science and technology sectors,” Dixon said. “This is the time when the state needs to commit to supporting these industries and really getting them off the ground and having an entity in state government that supports and works with these industries to make sure that they have the tools that they need.”
Bernalillo County to launch environmental internships — NM.News Staff
Bernalillo County Commissioners are moving forward with a pilot program to create environmental and natural resources internships for young adults.
Sponsored by Commission Chair Eric Olivas, the program aims to address challenges young adults face when entering the workforce, such as lack of experience and limited access to opportunities. The county also has high vacancies in these areas, which the program seeks to fill.
“We have found that many young adults face significant challenges when entering the workforce due to lack of practical experience, limited access to career-building opportunities and difficulty transitioning from education to stable employment,” Olivas said.
The program will provide training, hands-on experience, professional skills and mentorship, with an initial investment of $250,000. It will be administered by the county’s Human Resource Department, placing participants in relevant departments to learn essential skills.
The final adoption will be considered at the May 27 commission meeting.
NM courts name first-ever behavioral health reform expert– Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
The state agency that runs state courts on Monday morning named Esperanza Lucero as its first-ever behavioral health integration and reform administrator, the person tasked with implementing major parts of a new state law reforming New Mexico’s behavioral health system.
New Mexico this year enacted Senate Bill 3, which is meant to rebuild the state’s systems for addressing mental health challenges, including substance use disorder.
The law requires the Administrative Office of the Courts to divide the state into behavioral health regions, each of which will identify five behavioral health priorities over the next four years.
“I see the Judiciary as uniquely suited to providing the leadership to bring together local stakeholders and providers in a meaningful way,” Esperanza said in a statement.
Esperanza’s first task in her new position is to assess the initiatives already underway in New Mexico under what is called Sequential Intercept Mapping (SIM), Supreme Court Chief Justice David Thomson said in a statement.
SIM is a commonly used conceptual model developed in the early 2000s that outlines points of “intercept” where people with mental health or substance use disorders can receive treatment and support.
AOC completed mapping for Santa Fe County in January; for Rio Arriba County in December; and for the Eighth Judicial District in northeastern New Mexico in October, according to reports published on its website.
A mapping workshop for the Fourth Judicial District in Mora, San Miguel and Guadalupe counties is scheduled for June 10 and 11, and a workshop for Los Alamos County is scheduled for June 23 and 24.
By June 1, the state Health Care Authority’s Behavioral Health Services Division will provide AOC with behavioral health standards and service evaluation guidelines, and by the end of this year, the state’s Medicaid program will establish a group of licensing boards to help streamline mental health providers’ credentialing, according to a timeline presented by New Mexico’s top adult mental health services official earlier this month.
Lucero previously served as director of the state Department of Health’s Center for Health Protection, and led the Aging and Long-Term Services Department’s Adult Protective Services Division.
“Her experience working extensively with state and local agencies to implement policy, strategies and initiatives will help in laying the groundwork for behavioral health system improvements required by state law,” AOC Director Karl W. Reifsteck said in a statement.
NM’s largest utility could be sold to Blackstone Infrastructure– Hannah Grover, nm.news
The parent company of New Mexico’s largest electric utility announced on Monday that it has reached an agreement to be acquired by Blackstone Infrastructure.
Under the agreement, Blackstone will acquire TXNM Energy, which owns the Public Service Company of New Mexico, for about $11.5 billion. Under the agreement, Blackstone will acquire TXNM Energy’s net debt, with the exclusion of securitized debt.
The securitized debt includes low-interest bonds PNM used to refinance past investments into the now-shuttered San Juan Generating Station as part of the Energy Transition Act. The Energy Transition Act allows utilities to use securitized bonds when closing qualifying coal-fired power plants. Some of the funds from the securitization were set aside to assist the impacted workers and communities.
State regulators in both New Mexico and Texas will need to approve the sale for it to go through.
PNM spokesman Jeff Buell told NM Political Report in an email that the utility plans to file the merger application with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission this fall.
This is not the first time TXNM Energy has courted buyers. In 2020, the company announced plans to merge with the utility giant AVANGRID, but that ultimately fell through after the PRC denied the terms of the merger agreement.
The PRC process will give stakeholders, including local governments and advocacy groups, a chance to intervene.
Blackstone Infrastructure manages $60 billion of assets, including Invenergy Renewables. If that name sounds familiar to New Mexicans, it’s because Invenergy is behind the North Path Transmission Project, which could result in a 400-mile transmission line moving electricity from northeastern New Mexico to the Four Corners region. Invenergy entered into a joint development agreement with the New Mexico Renewable Energy Transmission Authority in 2023 to develop the transmission line.
According to PNM, the acquisition will keep the utility headquartered in New Mexico and Blackstone has agreed to retain local management and employees.
PNM states the acquisition will provide the financial strength needed as the utility transitions to carbon-free sources of generation and works to meet growing electricity demands.
“This agreement will provide the financial resources necessary to thrive in this rapidly changing energy environment,” PNM President and CEO Don Tarry said in a statement. “Our focus has been and will continue to be on serving our customers with safe, reliable energy. This investment will help us meet the considerable growth in demand while supporting the transition to a clean energy future and unlocking New Mexico’s potential for economic growth.”
PNM and Blackstone hope the merger will be finalized during the second half of 2026.
“PNM has done an excellent job of transitioning its generation portfolio to clean energy and supporting the communities it serves,” Sean Klimczak, Blackstone’s Global Head of Infrastructure, said in a statement. “We will utilize our long-term investment approach to support PNM’s economic development efforts during New Mexico’s sustainable generation transition. We share PNM’s deep commitment to the customers and communities they serve and we look forward to meaningfully engaging with PNM’s stakeholders.”