New Mexico Legislature approves bills to prop up rural health care,
underwrite food assistance
[October 03, 2025]
By MORGAN LEE
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.
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Democratic state House Speaker Javier Martínez, center back, of
Albuquerque, N.M., takes his seat at the opening of a special
legislative session about proposals to shore up safety net spending
in response to President Donald Trump's recent cuts, Wednesday, Oct.
1, 2025. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee)
 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.
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