New Mexico Legislature approves bills to prop up rural health care, underwrite food assistance

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico lawmakers moved quickly Thursday at a special legislative session to prop up funding for food assistance and rural health care services in response to President Donald Trump’s cuts to federal spending on Medicaid and nutrition programs.

The Democratic-led Legislature sent a flurry of bills to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham that include more than $16 million to sustain food assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and additional funds to bolster food banks, as the federal government ends SNAP eligibility for many noncitizens and changes benefit calculations for others.

“We need to act to make sure that New Mexicans don’t go hungry with SNAP changes at the federal level,” Democratic state Sen. George Muñoz of Gallup said.

Another $50 million would help sustain medical services at rural health clinics and hospitals that rely heavily on Medicaid spending.

Republicans in the legislative minority voted in unison against the spending provisions, arguing big Medicaid changes are still far away and that New Mexico should focus on reducing errors in benefit distributions.

At the same time, Democrats and some GOP legislators voted to backfill subsidies to health insurance on New Mexico’s Affordable Health Care exchange in case federal credits are allowed to expire. The federal subsidies are a major sticking point of the budget standoff in Washington that prompted the federal government shutdown Wednesday.

In a news release, Lujan Grisham said she’ll sign the bills to protect families from being priced out of insurance and ensure health care services are provided in small communities.

Many federal health care changes under Trump’s big bill don’t kick in until 2027 or later, and Democratic legislators in New Mexico acknowledged that their bills are only a temporary bandage.

“Some of the most significant (federal) cuts are delayed a few years, and these are deeply significant,” said state Rep. Nathan Small of Las Cruces, lead sponsor of the spending bill. “I want to make sure that we’re all thinking of, not hundreds of millions, but billions of dollars of reduced Medicaid support to our state.”

Trump’s big bill is prompting urgent action in several Democratic states, but not in Republican ones.

“These are temporary fixes,” Democratic state House Speaker Javier Martínez said. “These are insurmountable holes for any state to plug.”

Funding for food

New Mexico lawmakers approved a quick infusion of state spending on food assistance through SNAP for elderly recipients.

Nearly one-fourth of New Mexico residents receive food assistance through SNAP, making it a major line of defense against hunger.

Food banks get an $8 million bump in direct state support, under the bill. And $2 million is devoted to restocking food pantries at universities and public schools.

Trump’s big bill expands work and reporting requirements for SNAP participants, ends eligibility for many noncitizens, and changes benefit calculations.

Rural health care

Trump’s big bill sets aside $50 billion over five years for rural hospitals, providers and clinics — but that may not offset significant cuts.

The stakes are high in New Mexico, where about 38% of residents rely on Medicaid. And state lawmakers — Republicans and Democrats — are warning of a rural health care crisis as New Mexico struggles to retain medical professionals and keep clinics and hospitals open.

State Sen. Pat Woods, a Republican from the state’s sparsely populated eastern plains, co-sponsored changes to rural health care grants aimed at shoring up existing health care services at rural clinics and hospitals. A 64-3 vote of the House on Thursday sent the bill to the governor for consideration.

“We’re trying to figure out a way to fund and keep some of these clinics open. What’s going to happen in the future? Who the hell knows,” Woods told a panel of state lawmakers. “What I worry about is keeping these clinics and hospitals open until the dust settles.”

Subsidies for insurance, public radio

Legislators also voted to set aside $17 million to ensure subsidies don’t lapse on New Mexico’s Affordable Care Act exchange.

That initiative also would extend insurance subsidies to middle-income residents whose earnings equal or exceed 400% of the federal poverty level — roughly $128,000 annually for a family of four.

Democratic state Sen. Carrie Hamblen of Las Cruces said the insurance subsidies will help avoid a “perfect storm of unaffordability,” warning that rising insurance rates threaten to undermine participation in the exchange and make matters worse.

Separately, legislators approved $6 million in state funding for public broadcasting stations — including $430,000 for five tribal stations hit hard by the defunding of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting by Congress and Trump. Approved federal grants to the stations for the current federal budget year were clawed back, under a bill signed by Trump in July.

Another bill awaiting the governor’s signature would give the New Mexico Health Department greater decision-making authority regarding adult and childhood immunizations and state vaccine purchases.