NM investment accounts surpass $64 billion, as debate simmers over best use — Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal
New Mexico’s state investment accounts have ballooned to a record-high $64 billion, rekindling a long-running debate about how they should best be put to use.
Amid recent calls to take more money out of the state’s permanent funds for targeted initiatives, the state’s top investment official made the argument Wednesday for leaving current distribution levels in place.
Specifically, State Investment Officer Jon Clark told members of a legislative committee the permanent funds will distribute nearly $2.6 billion in the current budget year — or about $500 million more than last year’s levels.
This year’s distributions make up about 28% of state public school spending and roughly 78% of early childhood spending statewide, according to State Investment Council data.
“Some people incorrectly assume it’s sitting there and not being used,” Clark told members of the interim Investments and Pensions Oversight Committee, referring to the $64 billion in overall assets.
The recent growth of New Mexico’s permanent funds, fueled largely by skyrocketing oil production levels and investments gains, means the state now has the nation’s second-largest sovereign wealth fund. Only Alaska, which provides annual dividend checks to all residents, has a larger such fund, Clark said.
New Mexico’s annual permanent fund distributions, which are projected to increase to nearly $10 billion by 2050 barring any policy changes, provide stability for state lawmakers and could allow for future tax cuts to be enacted, Clark added.
However, the state’s $64 billion-plus portfolio has also caught the attention of some state residents, who argue more should be done to address New Mexico’s chronically high poverty rate and reliance on federal programs like Medicaid.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Deb Haaland cited the state’s permanent funds during a recent campaign event, while appearing to support increased distribution levels.
“It’s very unbalanced and we need to take money and invest in communities so that they can lift their communities up,” Haaland said during the event, which was posted to a social media account.
But Clark, while not referring to any specific proposals, warned lawmakers against taking large amounts of money out of the permanent funds.
He said taking half of the money — or $32 billion — out of the investment accounts would be “disastrous” for future education spending in New Mexico, citing the compound interest generated by the permanent funds if left untouched.
“We are going to be much more proactive in explaining this,” Clark said during Wednesday’s hearing.
Any changes to New Mexico’s permanent fund distribution levels require the approval of statewide voters. That happened most recently in 2022, when voters overwhelmingly ratified a constitutional amendment increasing distribution levels for early childhood programs.
Meanwhile, the State Investment Council now manages 14 different funds, including two funds created by lawmakers this year — a Medicaid trust fund and a behavioral health trust fund.
The behavioral health trust fund got an initial $100 million start-up infusion from the Legislature, while the Medicaid fund could see its first inflows this fall.
The exact amount flowing into the fund will depend on how much appropriated funding went unspent by state agencies during the budget year that ended in June, Clark said.
New Mexico governor declares crime ‘emergency’ in Española, authorizes National Guard to assist — Patrick Lohmann, Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued an emergency declaration for the small city of Española and the surrounding area Wednesday, saying local police are overwhelmed with rising crime and drug overdose deaths. In an executive order, the governor authorized state resources, including the National Guard, to help after city, county and Pueblo leaders requested the assistance.
According to the executive order, police calls in the Española area have doubled in the last two years, and police dispatches to businesses have quadrupled in that same period. She also cited Rio Arriba County’s high overdose death rate, “with residents struggling with addiction to fentanyl and other illicit substances.” Lujan Grisham’s order also authorized $750,000 in emergency spending.
“When our local leaders called for help to protect their communities, we responded immediately with decisive action,” Lujan Grisham said in a news release announcing the executive order. “We are making every resource available to support our local partners on the ground and restore public safety and stability to these areas that have been hardest hit by this crisis.”
Lauren Thorp, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, told Source NM the order is meant to help local, county and tribal police pay for “officer overtime, public safety equipment, and multi-agency interventions to address the surge in violent crime and drug trafficking.”
“This coordinated approach addresses the interconnected challenges of crime, overdoses, and community instability that have strained local capacity beyond their limits,” Thorp said in an email.
There is no “immediate” assignment to deploy the National Guard, Thorp said, but that standard language in the governor’s executive order “is there if needed.”
Guard spokesperson Hank Minitrez also confirmed that. “Guard hasn’t been tasked with any mission,” he said in a text message.
The governor signed a similar executive order in April that authorized National Guard troops to assist law enforcement in Albuquerque, the state’s biggest city. The governor’s April declaration in Albuquerque drew denunciations from the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico.
In that order, she also authorized $750,000 in emergency spending because she said Albuquerque was “experiencing a significant increase in crime” and requested help because it, too, did not have adequate resources to respond.
But unlike the Albuquerque executive order that directed the emergency funding directly to the National Guard, the Española order directs the funds to the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, an agency that typically helps residents respond to wildfires, floods or other natural disasters.
Thorp provided Source recent letters from the Santa Clara and Ohkay Owingeh pueblos, along with Española and Rio Arriba County officials, asking the state to assist. She also forwarded along a series of charts from the Española Social Services Department director, Michelle Fraire, who said that the city has already seen 49 overdoses, compared with 40 in all of 2024.
“I predict this number will continue to increase and more than double,” Fraire wrote, according to the materials the governor’s office provided.
Danielle Silva, a spokesperson for Homeland Security, told Source that the department is receiving the funding to coordinate various state agencies, like it does after a natural disaster, to assist local officials dealing with the increased crime.
“We’re kind of dealing with the state as a whole trying to figure out a multi-faceted response,” she said. “The details on that need to be fleshed out with the locals, but they asked for help so we’ll figure out how to do it.”
Silva said “housing and other public safety” are examples of how the state’s various agencies might be able to assist the communities.
Española Police Chief Mizel Garcia told Source the reason why the city asked for help is because it doesn’t have enough police officers to respond to a spike in crimes committed by young people and crimes involving guns.
“We lose a lot of officers to bigger agencies that pay more and offer more benefits,” Garcia said in an interview. “The issue for us is the availability of resources.”
The northern New Mexico city of just over 10,000 people cannot generate as much in tax revenue as larger cities, he said.
Española borders the Pueblos of Ohkay Owingeh to the north and Santa Clara to the south, which the order says are also experiencing “a significant increase in crime.”
Garcia said it is premature to say what the funding will be used for, and that will be determined once his agency can have a meeting with the Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Office and the Ohkay Owingeh and Santa Clara tribal police departments to develop a plan of action.
“Many parts within the city of Española are within the jurisdiction of our tribal agencies, so this isn’t just for my department, this is something that’s joint,” Garcia said. Including the New Mexico State Police, there are five different police agencies that can respond to calls in the city, he said.
Española officials said at a town hall meeting on crime and organized by the governor last summer that they were having trouble recruiting local police officers, given that Los Alamos National Laboratories offered similar candidates much higher pay.
At the same town hall, residents were divided about what the city should do about an unhoused encampment that grew alongside the Rio Grande in town. City officials cleared the encampment shortly after the meeting, drawing an outcry.
In the Albuquerque executive order, the governor authorized up to 70 National Guard soldiers to arrive in the city of about 560,000. They were dressed in plain clothes and were instructed to help APD with “non-law enforcement” activities including traffic control, administrative duties, transporting incarcerated people, court security, emergency response and “other critical functions that allow local law enforcement to focus on crime reduction efforts.”
The National Guard remains in Albuquerque, since the governor reauthorized its presence. The state has spent at least $2 million to keep it there.
APS introduces these new sporting events policies ahead of upcoming athletics year — Noah Alcala Bach, Albuquerque Journal
In the name of safety, Albuquerque Public Schools is changing policy to allow only clear bags at athletics events and eliminate the use of cash for concessions.
“I think the conversation has been happening for quite some time,” Antonio Gonzales, deputy superintendent of operations, said in a Wednesday interview. “So really looking at best practices, what others are doing throughout the state and nation to ensure that we are taking continuous steps to ensure safety for our staff, students and families is of the utmost importance.”
The move comes following a school year when 15 firearms were found on district campuses — including charter schools — and less than two years after an Atrisco Heritage Academy High School Student, Elijah Pohl-Morfin, was fatally shot in the school’s parking lot after a basketball game.
“We want to eliminate the chances of having something really bad happen at our games,” Adrian Ortega, executive director of APS’ athletics and activities, said in a Wednesday interview. “Safety is at the bottom of our decision, specific to clear bags, safety for our spectators, safety for our athletes, safety for our coaches.”
The policy changes are being introduced at a time when juvenile crime is a hot-button issue across the metro area and the state.
The district’s football season begins Aug. 21, with games between Volcano Vista and La Cueva, Valley and Bernalillo and Manzano and Highland across its three stadiums.
“We really don’t want it to be a confrontational thing, and we really want to educate our public during their first few games,” Ortega said. “This is something that we’re trying to do just for safety purposes.”
Additionally, beginning in the spring, APS will no longer accept cash at sporting events, accepting only card payments for concessions. The announcement this week comes two years after APS switched to only accepting card payments for sporting event tickets.
“The primary motive is safety. We want to eliminate our people accepting, carrying and depositing a large amount of cash,” Ortega said. “It’s been really successful with our admission, and we’re hoping that it’s successful with our concessions as well.”
The cost of concessions will not go up as a result of the cashless transition, according to Ortega.
In addition to credit and debit cards, touch-to-pay options like Apple Pay and Google Pay will also be accepted. Concessions generated around $225,000 in revenue last school year, according to APS.