DD Waiver Community Should Ask Senate to Restore DDSD Funding to at Least the Executive Requested Amount
House Cut Developmental Disability Recommended Spending by $56 Million, While Seeking to Increase Corporate Welfare as Much as $230 Million – Senate Needs to Restore the Cuts.
Today is Disability Rights Awareness Day at the New Mexico Roundhouse.
It is being sponsored by the The Disability Coalition which is made up of Disability Rights New Mexico (DRNM), The Arc of New Mexico, Independent Living Resource Center, New Mexico Developmental Disabilities Council (DDC), New Vistas, with support from other organizations such as Governor’s Commission on Disability, Developmental Disabilities Supports Division (DDSD), the Brain Injury Alliance NM, Center for Development and Disability, New Mexico Family Network, and the New Mexico State Independent Living Council.
Something to keep in mind if you are an advocate for for intellectually and developmentally disabled New Mexicans (DD Waiver community), is the state budget bill for the next fiscal year is currently being amended by the Senate Finance Committee (SFC).
As The Candle reported on Monday, House members voted last week for a budget insufficient to address the recommended increases identified in a recently released study for the compensation of workers providing direct care to persons in the DD Waiver community.
The study, conducted by the Burns & Associates division of Health Management Associates (HMA-Burns), which was chosen by the New Mexico Health Care Authority last year to lead this rate study, was released publicly on January 31, 2026.
(The Candle will report about the study in more detail soon.)
It was the study House Appropriations and Finance Committee (HAFC) Chairman Nathan Small stated two years ago that was needed to robustly “right-size” care for residents in need of DD Waiver services provided by direct support professionals.
Despite the study clearly supporting significant increases for services and raises to the people who provide direct support to clients of the DD Waiver programs, Small and the HAFC recommended a budget with a reduction of about $56 million from what Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s team had recommended.
Fifteen New Mexico Counties Without Vital Services
The full House supported Small in cutting the $56 million from the DDSD budget.
The failure to provide sufficient funding is a serious problem, as retention and recruitment of enough personnel – direct support professionals (DSPs) – has been hampered for years, resulting in the unavailability of needed care.
Last month during a public meeting of Small’s House Appropriations and Finance Committee, Representative Harlan Vincent – (R), raised questions that exposed the inability of the DDSD to serve DD Waiver clients across the state.
The DDSD Director acknowledged that there were no willing provider agencies (those companies that provide the DSP workforce) in fifteen New Mexico counties due to insufficient rates.
The State Senate could intervene and include the $56 million in the DDSD budget during its deliberations over the next several days.
House Approves $230 Million in Corporate Largess, Masquerading as Economic Development, While Cutting Millions for the Most Vulnerable New Mexicans.
As the House was cutting funding in the budget of needed resources for the Developmentally Disabled community, the same members were showering more than $183 million in state general fund money on the corporate lobby for programs they claim will increase economic development.
The $183 million in what is essentially corporate welfare has not received the same degree of scrutiny as was provided by HMA-Burns study for the recommended increases to the DD Waiver community programs.
The corporate lobby promises jobs will be created … but usually with a caveat that most of the permanent jobs will be created in five to ten years.
(In addition to the $183 million for corporate welfare in the House version of the budget, Small and the Vice Chair of the HAFC – Meredith Dixon – along with support from the Governor, have filed House Bill 320, which would provide another $50 million in state general funds for more corporate hand-outs under the guise it will reduce carbon pollution if the companies adhere to practices that they should arguably adhere to without any hand-out from the state’s funds.)
Interestingly, the state appropriated (general fund) money the DDSD programs spend is typically matched by an additional 72% in funding from the federal government, enhancing the economic impact and job creation in New Mexico.
The increased economic activity from the DDSD funding happens in the very same year the budget is approved for.
So, those at the Roundhouse today representing the Disability Coalition ought to ask their Senators for support in funding for DDSD programs at least at the level of the Governor’s recommendation.