Leaders of the New Mexico Senate are urging state agencies to institute cost-saving measures and plan to rewrite a budget for next year approved by the Republican-controlled House in response to declining revenue forecasts.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman John Arthur Smith said Thursday that general fund reserves are likely to be drawn down during the current fiscal year and that revenues are no longer expected to increase next year.
Falling revenue expectations are linked to low energy prices and the New Mexico's dependence on oil and natural gas production to keep the government up and running.
The House has approved a $6.3 billion budget that increases spending by $81 million on Medicaid health care, early childhood education and prisons while cutting funding to state colleges and universities.
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