Legislative Finance Committee

More than two dozen New Mexico state and local government agencies, hospitals, school districts, and colleges have been the victims of cyber attacks in the last two years and the state has spent $7 million on cybersecurity; however, most of those dollars have been spent on planning and pilot projects and widespread protections for state government are still not in place

While the costs for Centennial Care, the state’s Medicaid managed care program, increased from $3.9 billion in 2014 to $5 billion in 2019, and per enrollee spending has simultaneously increased, member utilization of healthcare and their health outcomes have remained fairly constant.

About $1.4 billion authorized for 2,644 capital outlay projects was unspent at the start of this month, with $210.5 million of that for projects authorized in 2018 or earlier.

Many of the Permian Basin oil wells shut down in April and May are back in production, but drilling activity in the area that spans the New Mexico and Texas border is down 74 percent, and even with the number of wells to scheduled to come online next year, forecasters expect output to drop in the next few months and continue to decline into 2021.

A program that promotes wildlife habitat development by private landowners distorts the hunting license lottery to the benefit of out-of-state hunters.

Implementation of an online permitting system for commercial trucking has improved revenues but more work is needed on border inspections and safety compliance.

Student assessments, optional for most public schools this fall, might not be reliable indicators of pandemic-related learning loss because participation was low and some students appeared to get help from their parents.

The state gives up $1 billion in revenue a year through tax benefits for certain taxpayers and activities but has limited information on whether the state gets anything in return.