New Mexico lawmakers approved $162 million in state funding to ensure food assistance for citizens until January 20. The bill passed both chambers with minimal pushback, although it did come with an amendment to look into how the program is run.
Amendment sponsor, State Rep. Jack Chatfield (R-Mosquero), said it provides $50,000 for the Legislative Finance Committee to perform a “programmatic review to make sure that the program is being run appropriately.”
The amended bill passed the committee unanimously. It then passed the House 52 to 9 and the Senate 30 to 6 before being sent to Lt. Gov. Howie Morales while Gov.Michelle Lujan Grisham is in Brazil for the United Nations Climate Conference.
The bill’s supporters, like Sen. George Muñoz (D-Gallup) said it’s crafted so as soon federal funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) returns, state funds will be shut off.
“And there's discussions right now, currently going on in the federal government on part of that bill in negotiations, for the states to get the money back,” he said. “We're out nothing. We're out nothing but doing the right thing.”
Supporters of the bill also say SNAP provides vital economic stimulus. Sen. Angel Charlie (D-Acoma), who represents rural parts of Valencia and McKinley counties, says SNAP dollars can make up a huge portion of rural and mom and pop grocery stores income. But she also says it’s simply the right thing to do.
“This is what New Mexico wants to see for their tax dollars going toward — feeding children, feeding elders, feeding the vulnerable,” she said. “This is not a bailout. This is a buffer. It is a firewall between the federal dysfunction and New Mexico families in rural New Mexico. Hunger is not abstract. It is pantries that empty before pay days. It is the grandmother who skips a meal so that her grandchildren can eat.”
Opponents, like Sen. Larry Scott (R- Hobbs), say they have problems with the SNAP program at large, including fear of fraud and payment accuracy errors.
“I would submit that this program has morphed from a hand up to a hand out, and that needs significant reform moving forward,” Scott said.
In the U.S. Senate, several Democrats broke ranks to approve the Republican spending bill and start the process of funding the federal government and ending the shutdown, but the process is far from over. Plus, officials say if federal funding lapses again, the money set aside for the bill will start going out to New Mexicans every week until funding is restored.
Support for this coverage comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
