As new federal SNAP rules take effect, food banks brace for higher demand - Natalie Robbins, Albuquerque Journal
As of Feb. 1, President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” requires that about 55,750 New Mexicans work, volunteer or attend training to keep receiving SNAP benefits. As the new requirements take effect, local food banks say they’re expecting an influx of demand.
The bill, passed in July, will cut approximately $186 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program through 2034, according to the Congressional Budget Office — a reduction of about 20% and the largest cut to the program in history. With about 460,000 people in the state enrolled in the program, New Mexico has the highest percentage of residents who rely on SNAP benefits, according to federal data.
“We’re very concerned,” said Jason Riggs, director of advocacy and public policy at Roadrunner Food Bank of New Mexico. “It’s pretty confusing, the information that’s come down from (U.S. Department of Agriculture). This was all done incredibly fast, and I don’t think any state in the union’s really had a chance to catch up with all of this.”
Under the new federal law, work requirements are extended to able-bodied adults between the ages of 55 and 64. Now, everyone who is able-bodied from ages 18 through 65 without dependents must work or attend a work program for at least 80 hours per month to receive benefits.
Veterans, former foster youth aged 24 and younger, and unhoused people are no longer exempt from work requirements. Parents or caregivers with dependents 14 years old and older must also meet work requirements unless an exception applies, according to the New Mexico Health Care Authority.
The bill prevents states from extending benefits beyond three months in areas where the unemployment rate is below 10%.
Native Americans are exempt from work requirements under the new law.
Work rules also do not apply if a SNAP recipient receives supplemental security income (SSI) or general assistance disability benefits, has a physical or mental disability that prevents work, is pregnant, is caring for a child under 14 or a disabled family member, is receiving unemployment benefits, is enrolled at least part-time in school, training or higher education, or is enrolled in a drug or alcohol treatment program.
Residents of Luna County, Taos Pueblo, Tesuque Pueblo, Laguna Pueblo or San Felipe Pueblo are also exempt from work requirements.
New Mexico has already taken steps to address federal changes to the SNAP program. In a short special session in November intended to address the fallout from Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill," New Mexico legislators passed House Bill 1, which guaranteed that New Mexicans would receive SNAP benefits throughout the federal government shutdown. The bill also included a $1.5 million appropriation to the Health Care Authority to help SNAP recipients meet work and volunteer requirements in conjunction with the state Department of Workforce Solutions.
“These are federal requirements, not state policy, but our job is to make sure New Mexicans don't lose food benefits because they didn't know about the changes,” said Niki Kozlowski, director of HCA’s Income Support Division. “We know this may be stressful for families who depend on SNAP. Our staff can help you understand whether you qualify for an exception or how to report your work or volunteer hours.”
“Qualifying activities” that apply toward the 80-hour-per-month requirement include full- or part-time paid work, self-employment, job training or work-experience programs, education or GED classes, volunteering or community service, or hours logged as part of the SNAP Employment & Training program.
If a SNAP recipient does not meet work requirements and is not exempt from them, they may only receive three months of SNAP benefits in a three-year period, according to the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty. The recipient will only be eligible again after three years have passed.
At Roadrunner, staff is concerned that SNAP recipients who may not be able to receive mail, or who don’t have access to the internet, may not see the new requirements, and as a result won’t be eligible for benefits for another three years, Riggs said.
The new restrictions also limit SNAP benefits to only U.S. citizens and qualified lawful permanent residents, and discontinue benefits to those with legal status who have entered the country under asylum and refugee laws.
“They are here legally following the rules. Many of them worked with U.S. military in countries like Iraq or Afghanistan. Many are fleeing violence in their home country. Many have been victims of sex trafficking,” Riggs said. “It’s a very difficult place to be, so something long term needs to happen in order to take care of that population.”
Riggs said the food bank sees an increase in traffic with any federal policy affecting SNAP benefits. Roadrunner had high demand in July, when the SNAP cuts were announced, and in November, when the government shutdown left SNAP recipients uncertain about their benefits.
SNAP benefits can provide nine times the amount of food as the entire National Food Bank network, Riggs said, and though the food bank is preparing to meet demand, “there’s no way we can just quadruple our efforts.”
“I think there’s a belief out there that people should earn this,” he said. “But it’s actually meant to be assistance … the purpose of SNAP is to be there to kind of help folks through.”
New Mexicans who have questions on their eligibility or who want to report their working hours should visit yes.nm.gov or call 1-800-283-4465 for assistance, HCA officials said.
House panel advances $11.1 billion budget bill that includes co-pays for universal child care plan - Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal
After several weeks of Roundhouse budget hearings, a House committee approved a $11.1 billion spending plan Monday that could pave the way for a high-profile New Mexico universal child care initiative to receive a funding infusion for the coming year.
The budget bill, House Bill 2, was approved on a bipartisan 15-3 vote — three Republicans cast dissenting votes — and could be voted on by the full House later this week.
Specifically, it would increase year-over-year state spending by about $294.5 million — or 2.7% — over current levels. That would represent a smaller increase than in recent years, as state spending has increased by more than 70% since 2019.
However, much of the debate over this year's budget bill has been focused not solely on spending growth, but rather on Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's initiative to provide state-subsidized child care to all working New Mexico families, regardless of income levels.
The child care expansion, which made New Mexico the first state with universal child care when it took effect in November, has drawn national attention but also criticism from some legislators.
Rep. Nathan Small, D-Las Cruces, the chairman of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee, said Monday the committee-approved budget plan gets legislators "halfway there" to the governor's request of an additional $160 million to pay for the initiative.
"We're meeting the moment to have universal affordable child care," Small told reporters after Monday's vote.
But he said the spending plan approved by the House committee would involve required child care co-pays for higher-income families — or those making more than $132,000 per year for a family of four. Under the bill, the exact dollar amount of those co-pays would be tiered depending on a family's gross income.
In addition, the plan would also rely on an additional $55 million distribution from an early childhood trust fund established in 2020 that has seen its value skyrocket from $300 million to a projected amount of $9.8 billion at the end of the current budget year. That growth has been fueled by a surge in oil production in southeast New Mexico.
Separate legislation would have to be passed authorizing the increased distribution from the early childhood fund during this year's 30-day session, which reaches its halfway point on Wednesday.
In response to the budget bill's approval, a Lujan Grisham spokesman said Monday the Democratic governor does not support the idea of charging co-pays for child care.
"The governor appreciates the effort to help pay for the universal child care initiative but she does not support co-pays when we have enough money to fund the initiative this year," said the governor's spokesman, Michael Coleman.
He also said the governor would continue to push for full funding of the universal child care plan in order to give New Mexico children a "solid foundation" for learning and increase economic opportunities for families.
Modest pay raises, uncertain future
The spending plan approved Monday also includes roughly $63 million to provide salary increases of 1% to all state employees and teachers, starting in July.
The pay raises would be smaller than in past years, and several labor union officials expressed frustration that they would not keep up with the cost of inflation, especially for lower-paid state workers.
"It feels like money out of our pockets to fund other projects," said Megan Green, the president of the Communications Workers of America Local 7076 union.
But architects of the House spending plan said more fiscal restraint is necessary this year, given a projected cooling off of the state's breakneck revenue growth and the uncertainty surrounding federal funding levels.
"There seems to be a little more fiscal restraint this year than we've seen in past years," said Rep. Cathrynn Brown, R-Carlsbad, during Monday's committee hearing.
She ultimately voted against the budget bill — joining fellow Republican Reps. Randall Pettigrew of Lovington and Rebecca Dow of Truth or Consequences — due to what she described as an underfunding of state judicial branch agencies.
For his part, Small pointed out the spending plan would leave budget reserves at about 30% of total spending — or roughly $3.3 billion — in case projected revenue levels do not materialize.
State lawmakers tapped those reserves during a special session last fall to ensure more than 460,000 state residents did not lose food assistance during a federal government shutdown.
"I think this is looking toward what is an uncertain future, while making sure we continue to invest in New Mexicans," said Small.
What happens next
If it wins approval in the full House, the budget bill would then advance to the Senate for additional consideration.
Charles Sallee, the director of the Legislative Finance Committee, indicated Monday the Senate could move to increase funding for child care assistance once it receives the bill.
Other changes could also be made to the bill, including possible revisions to the $2.6 billion in proposed one-time state spending on water projects, economic development initiatives and other programs.
Meanwhile, the budget bill also contains language prohibiting the Lujan Grisham administration from spending more than half of the funds appropriated for state agencies before the governor leaves office at the end of this year.
A new governor, who will be elected in November, would then inherit the remaining budget amounts after taking office in January.
NM news desert grows with closure of longtime Gallup newspaper - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
The Gallup Independent, the longtime newspaper serving a town of 20,000 on the border of the Navajo Nation, published its final issue Saturday due in part to what publisher Bob Zollinger described as an economic “collapse” in the area.
Zollinger and his father John ran the paper for the last 62 years. The print-only publication peaked at a circulation of 18,000 issues in 2006. Its last run Saturday was a little under 5,000, according to an article in its final issue.
According to the article, factors that contributed to the paper’s closure include the rise of social media, the COVID-19 pandemic, tariff impacts on newsprint and a sharp decrease in advertising.
Zollinger added another possible reason in a phone interview Sunday with Source New Mexico: The rising cost of silver, a key commodity in a town that runs on Native American jewelry, has stalled the local economy. But he said the sudden downturn still remains a mystery.
“Price of silver, price of cars. You can speculate all you want,” Zollinger said. “The bottom line is, something happened and the bottom fell out.”
The paper published four times a week and had an op-ed page, plus coverage of local government, schools, health care and high school sports. Its departure leaves the area with only a weekly newspaper, the Gallup Sun, and a monthly human interest magazine, along with local radio stations.
Zollinger said one story he feels proud of after decades at the Independent came in 2010, when an old booking record for then-mayor Harry Mendoza resurfaced showing his alleged involvement in a sexual assault as a teenager. The paper published the story.
Shortly afterward, Zollinger and the mayor encountered each other at a bank parking lot and got into a fistfight. A subsequent issue featured a front-page photo of Zollinger showing his bloodied bottom lip. Mendoza denied the sexual assault allegations and sued the paper for libel, though the paper later won.
“That was a big win for us. We just said we’re not gonna bend over or apologize. We’re just gonna go to the mat,” Zollinger said.
The Independent’s closure comes amid a worsening news landscape in New Mexico, particularly in rural areas and among Indigenous communities. A recent report from the New Mexico Local News Fund found that nearly half of the state’s local news outlets are concentrated in four metropolitan areas. Outside Albuquerque/Rio Rancho, Santa Fe, Las Cruces and Farmington, news outlets are “overwhelmingly small and under-resourced,” according to the report.
Zollinger said he has discussed the paper’s closure with Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren, who floated the possibility of the tribe buying the newspaper. Zollinger said he urged Nygren to ensure the paper maintains its editorial independence if such a sale occurs.
In the meantime, Zollinger fears upcoming meetings of the school board, city council, hospital board of directors or county commission won’t have a single reporter in attendance.
“I have deep fears about what’s going to go on now,” he said, “with the Independent not looking over things.”
Gubernatorial candidate switches party from Dem to independent just before election deadline - Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
Former Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima announced Monday he is pulling out of the New Mexico Democratic primary and will run instead as an independent in the 2026 gubernatorial election.
Miyagishima’s announcement came less than 24 hours before the deadline for candidates to submit their qualifying paperwork to the Secretary of State’s Office in order to appear on the June 2 primary ballot.
The Tuesday deadline requires the state’s major party candidates — Democratic and Republican — to submit 2,000 signatures from members of their political parties.
That leaves just two candidates vying for the Democratic nomination: former U.S. Interior Secretary and New Mexico Congresswoman Deb Haaland and Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman.
Miyagishima was a distant third in fundraising for the state’s most expensive race. In the most recent reports from October, Haaland had received more than $6.6 million in donations and Bregman had garnered $2.3 million in donations, according to the state campaign finance website.
Miyagishima reported just under $20,000 in donations and a loan from himself for $50,000 over the same time period.
Miyagishima said the decision was a matter of policy, saying that the state’s Democratic primary feels as if it is “all about Washington DC.”
“We’ve got a lot of serious issues facing the state,” he told Source NM in a phone call. “My decision to change, I think, is for the best, so that we can represent everybody and not just a particular group.”
Asked if he had issues collecting the signatures to qualify for the ballot, Miyagishima told Source NM he felt “confident” he would have met the threshold.
“I wouldn’t say I was struggling, but we didn’t knock it out of the park,” Miyagishima said. “But in the last two to three weeks, we put teams out there for about 2,000 electronic signatures, and then a couple thousand on the ground.”
Independent candidates are also required to submit declarations of candidacy and petitions with signatures from voters, but the Secretary of State’s office does not release petition forms and the required number of signatures for independent and minor party candidates until March, according to the 2026 primary guide.
Miyagishima told Source NM he is now in discussions to run as a candidate for the Forward Party, which is seeking to qualify as an official minor party in the state.
“I’m looking to run under the Forward Party, if they’ll have me,” he said.
Last month, the NM Forward Party, which has a platform centered on a return to civility in politics, endorsed Miyagishima’s candidacy—but as a Democratic candidate.
NM Forward Chairman and former state Rep. Bob Perls told Source NM party will not endorse anyone as a New Mexico Forward candidate until its formal acceptance as a minor party, which he said would be in mid-spring. He said Miyagishima and two other candidates, whom he declined to name, are being “vetted.”
“We’re flattered that Ken would like to run for governor under the Forward Party banner,” Perls said in a phone call with Source NM. “We are also in discussions with several other prominent candidates for governor who have reached out to us.”
Committee advances bill requiring regular reporting on NM foster children held in offices - Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
New Mexico legislators on Monday narrowly passed a bill that would require ongoing reporting by the state’s Children, Youth & Families Department regarding foster children housed in the agency’s offices.
House Bill 181, which eked through the committee on a 5-4 vote, would require CYFD to report to lawmakers and the newly created Office of the Child Advocate about the number and status of such children, and allots $100,000 in one-time funds to facilitate the reports.
CYFD’s practice of keeping children in its offices due to a dearth of foster placements has been a yearslong critical issue. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Jan. 19 issued an executive order banning overnight office stays effective March 1, following years of concerns and incidents regarding the practice. CYFD said earlier this month it had already stopped new office stays and was in the process of “relocating remaining youth into appropriate placements.”
Rep. Rebecca Dow (R-Truth and Consequences), who sponsored the bill, said she did so out of “desperation,” and does not believe the practice will end, regardless of the governor’s executive order.
“There’s nowhere to place them,” she said.
Office stays “exploded” in 2024, Dow told the committee, doubling from the prior year to 709 children, according to an annual report from independent child welfare experts overseeing CYFD. About 25% of the children had to sleep in an office after being immediately removed from the home, the report said.
“Only when we legislators understand how acute the crisis of children sleeping in offices really is will we then have a lens to see inside of the issues the department is facing,” Dow told the committee.
CYFD currently makes monthly reports on office stays to the independent child welfare experts overseeing the agency’s reform efforts in the ongoing arbitration of the treatment of foster children.
Rep. Pamelya Herndon, (D-Albuquerque) said she would not support the measure as the governor’s executive order would possibly make the reports moot.
Rep. Eleanor Chávez, (D-Albuquerque) said she could not support the bill because the state already pays for comparable monthly reports from the independent child welfare experts as part of the state’s settlement of the 2018 “Kevin S” lawsuit.
Paying more money on top of that “doesn’t make any sense,” Chávez said.
The bill is slated to head to the House Appropriations and Finance Committee next.
Dow also is sponsoring House Bill 65, which would provide CYFD $2.5 million over two years for a pilot program to target children with higher needs to have 24-hour crisis intervention; monthly home caseworker visits; weekly therapy; monthly in-home family therapy; along with additional family support and meetings.
Lawmakers had suggestions for amendments to the bill, including adding reporting requirements. Dow said she’d bring an amended bill back
“The $2.5 million is not the point, putting evidence-based practices into statute is the point,” Dow said.
HB65 will appear again before the committee on Wednesday morning, Thompson said.
Rep. Kathleen Cates (D-Rio Rancho) warned that support may still be lukewarm for the bills, unless they more specifically require the agency to meet goals.
“My concern with the last two bills, and even the one that I voted ‘yes’ for, is your solution seems to be financial, as if CYFD is not doing what we expect them to do all because of money, and I don’t think that that is true,” Cates said.