New Mexico’s 2025 Legislative Session: A Successful Session for Agriculture, Land, and Water

New Mexico’s 2025 legislative session concluded on March 22nd and by April 11th, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham declared her commitments to substantive legislation and the budget, marking the end of another 60-day session. In odd-numbered years like 2025, New Mexico conducts longer sessions where lawmakers can introduce bills on any topic. During even-numbered years, legislative sessions are just 30 days long and focus on budget matters and specific issues identified by the governor.

Despite some legislative efforts to reform this alternating system during the 2025 session, the structure remains unchanged. New Mexico will continue with this established pattern, with another 30-day budget session scheduled for 2026.

Financial Landscape

The 2025 session began with New Mexico coming off unprecedented revenue growth in recent years, though entering a phase of slight moderation with a 0.2% decline compared to the previous fiscal year. Despite this minor cooldown in the revenue trajectory, primarily driven by fluctuations in the global oil market, the state maintained a strong financial foundation with more than $650 million in “new money” available for allocation during this session.

Budget Requests and Allocations

For Fiscal Year 2026, state agencies collectively requested $688.5 million in general fund increases, a roughly 15% increase over their FY25 operating budget of $4.63 billion. This increase in requests reflects growing needs and opportunities across numerous state government sectors.

The centerpiece of the New Mexico Legislature’s financial work is what is called the General Appropriation Act, or House Bill 2, where all appropriations are contained within one (very long) bill, which ultimately appropriated approximately $32.9 billion across government sectors.

The 2025 session delivered significant wins for agriculture, land, and water interests across the state. Here’s a look at the major accomplishments:

Landmark Water Legislation

Perhaps the most impactful legislation was the combined SB21 and SB22–Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Act. This legislation responds to the Supreme Court’s Sackett v. EPA (2023) decision, which left New Mexico with the most endangered rivers in the United States. The bill essentially brings home the oversight previously provided by the federal Clean Water Act while maintaining important historical federal carve-outs for agriculture that protect producers from overly burdensome permitting processes.

This legislation empowers New Mexico to manage its own water quality permitting, ensuring stronger protections for waterways and communities. It represents the work of an impressively broad coalition, with special credit due to Senators Wirth and Gonzales and Representative Ortez, for working closely with the agriculture community to preserve the protections farmers and ranchers have relied on for decades at the federal level. RMFU has long supported the Clean Water Act at the federal level because we have found it to be a fair compromise between clean surface waters and bureaucratic burden for producers.

Supporting Agricultural Infrastructure, Conservation, and Rural Economies

Several important funding initiatives in this area received approval:

• Agricultural Water Resilience Program at New Mexico State University (HB 2): This $5 million program will provide grants to political subdivisions to help producers improve water resilience through better infrastructure, technology, practices, and crop selection.
• Veterinary Repayment Loan Program (SB8): A statewide fund of $1.5 million was established to pay off student loans for up to 10 large animal veterinarians who commit to practicing in rural and underserved areas of New Mexico for at least four years.
• Meat Processing Facilities (HB 2): $3.3 million was allocated for grants to help meat processing facilities improve their waste management systems and infrastructure.
• Forest Restoration (SM1): The Forest Restoration and Economic Development Memorial directs state departments to study how to accelerate forest restoration through economic development of the wood products sector, aiming to reduce wildfire risk while creating viable markets for forest thinning byproducts.
• New Mexico Forest Restoration Center: There was $10 million secured for this program. This is a collaborative effort between the Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department, Highlands University, the University of New Mexico, and New Mexico State University to address reforestation needs, particularly in the wake of wildfires. Its primary goal is to develop a comprehensive reforestation pipeline, including seed collection, nursery operations, and planting, while also engaging in research, education, and outreach. The center is currently located at the John T. Harrington Forestry Research Center in Mora, and we expect it to stay in the Mora area.
• Archaeology Technician Program: $300,000 was allocated for the New Mexico Department of Agriculture, Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, and the Department of Cultural Affairs to create a three-month archaeology technician program. This will help address the bottleneck in archaeological surveys for agricultural, conservation, and other projects.
• Soil Health and Water Conservation Districts: $9 million was allocated for soil and water conservation districts to build capacity over the next three years.

Supporting Local Food Systems and Food Security

The session saw robust support for local food systems:

• New Mexico Meat, Cheese, and Produce in Schools (SM19): This memorial sets the stage for the New Mexico Department of Agriculture to develop recommendations for incorporating locally produced and processed meats, dairy, and cheese into school meal programs.
• Farmers Markets and Food Programs:
  • $1 million for WIC and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program
  • $430,000 for the New Mexico Grown Approved Supplier Program
  • $2 million for the Healthy Food Financing Fund
  • $7.848 million for Healthy Universal School Meals (fiscal year 2025)
  • $3.054 million for Healthy Universal School Meals prior year shortfall
  • $5 million for ongoing Healthy Universal School Meals
  • $4.7 million for the Food is Medicine Program benefiting pregnant women and seniors

Wildlife and Conservation

Game Commission Reform (SM5) passed after a multi-year effort. The legislation renames the department to the Wildlife Department and expands its focus beyond game species to broader wildlife conservation. It also reforms the Game Commission structure, giving the Legislature appointment power for some commissioners and expanding an advisory committee. The bill increases certain hunting and fishing license fees for the first time since 2006, potentially generating $10 million in additional funding.

The governor did line-item veto language that would have changed the removal process for commission members, which would have required the State Ethics Commission to file an action in district court to remove a board member. Instead, the governor retains the ability to remove members, much to the disappointment of coalition members across the political spectrum.

Water Conservation and Management

Significant investments were made in water conservation and management:

• $5 million for the River Stewardship Program at the Environment Department, which provides funding and technical support for projects enhancing water quality and river habitat.
• $1.2 million for the Acequia and Community Ditch Fund.
• $2 million to New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology to implement the Water Data Act, creating an integrated water data platform that makes information from various state agencies publicly available.
• $5 million to implement the Water Security Act, a 2023 law designed to reinvigorate regional water planning around projected supply reductions.

What Did Not Move

Here are a few things that we monitored or took positions on but ultimately did not make it out of this session:

• New Mexico’s anti-donation clause prevents state and local governments from directly funding private entities, creating barriers for projects across sectors and forcing complex workarounds that slow progress on critical infrastructure and social services. During the 2025 legislative session, House Joint Resolution 11 aimed to repeal and replace this constitutional provision advanced through one committee but ultimately failed to pass.
• Senate Memorial 3 directed New Mexico Department of Agriculture, the Environment Department, and the Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department, as well as various agricultural interests to develop a comprehensive beaver management plan by October 2025, recognizing beavers’ vital role in enhancing hydrological function as well as the challenges they can often cause for agricultural producers. This memorial did pass in 2014, but was not acted on.
• HB330–Land Grant-Merced & Acequia Infrastructure Fund would have created a land grant-merced and acequia infrastructure trust fund and two related project funds. The Legislative Finance Committee staff concluded that there was no revenue source for the trust funds, absent a separate appropriation into the trust funds of at least $5 million each.
• HB459–Pollinator Research received a strong and favorable hearing and has plenty of opportunity to be considered in the future.