A look at the special session bills
We knew going into it that the special session called by Michelle Lujan Grisham would be a spending spree at taxpayer expense and that the Democrats were not going to address important issues like the medical provider shortage or the dire state of our roads.
What DID happen during the special session? Most of the spending from the special session is contained in HB 1 which includes the following provisions:
- Appropriates $5.6 million to NPR and PBS with an additional $430 thousand for tribal and pueblo public TV/radio.
- Spends $45.9 million on various food stamp (SNAP) related programs:
- $17.3 million to subsidize healthcare premiums relating to ObamaCare;
- $7.9 million to the Regulation and Licensing Department to cover up a budget deficit;
- $450 thousand for the CAMP program for college-bound migrant and seasonal farmworkers.
- $30 million from the general fund to the appropriation contingency fund and transfers
- $50 million from the general fund to the rural health care delivery fund.
Much of this is in response to federal actions including increased work requirements and limits on SNAP in the BBB, elimination of federal funding for PBS and NPR, and the expiration of certain “enhanced” subsidies under ObamaCare. Our friend health care expert Michael Cannon of Cato Institute said, “Democrats are particularly insistent on preserving subsidies that were pitched as a temporary COVID measure because they help hide the costs of Obamacare.”