SANTA FE, N.M. – New Mexico state government would increase spending on public education by 15 percent under a budget proposal from the Legislature’s lead budget-writing committee.
The Legislative Finance Committee on Monday released a plan to increase annual state general fund spending in all by 11 percent, or $673 million, to $7 billion for the fiscal year that begins in July.
Lawmakers are taking a guarded approach to spending from an anticipated $1.1 billion budget surplus that is linked closely to a boom-and-bust oil industry.
The budget proposal calls for an annual spending increase of $417 million on public education that includes major investments in preschool. Spending on at-risk students would rise by $113 million.
Another $90 million would go toward extending the school year by five weeks at many elementary schools.
