WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced he has secured $142 million in investments for 134 local projects across New Mexico with the Senate’s passage of all 12 appropriations bills.  

The six bills that the Senate passed today include $28 million that Heinrich secured for 52 local projects in New Mexico. This follows the $114 million for 82 local projects in New Mexico that Heinrich secured in the first six appropriations bills that passed earlier this month and have already been signed into law.  

This brings the total direct federal investments that Heinrich delivered to New Mexico in this appropriations cycle to $142 million. In his three years on the Senate Appropriations Committee so far, Senator Heinrich has delivered $548 million through Congressionally Directed Spending to projects in New Mexico.  

“As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I have the opportunity to directly advocate for federal resources that deliver for working families in New Mexico — and that’s exactly what this legislation does,” said Heinrich. “The appropriations bills that we passed today deliver major investments that will make a real difference in the lives of families in our state. These bills will support our children’s education, improve rural health care, and strengthen our national security.”  

The six bipartisan Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) appropriations bills that passed this week in both the House and Senate include the Defense Bill, the Financial Services and General Government Bill, the Homeland Security Bill, the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Bill, the Legislative Branch Bill, and the State and Foreign Operations Bill. These bills now head to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law.  

The House and Senate previously passed the Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration Bill the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Bill, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Bill, the Commerce, Justice, and Science bill, the Interior and Environment Bill, and the Energy and Water Development Bill on March 8, and President Biden signed them into law. 

Defense Appropriations Bill Highlights

The Fiscal Year 2024 Defense Appropriations Bill includes $825 billion of total funding. Heinrich secured the following provisions in the bill that will benefit New Mexico’s service members, national laboratories, and defense missions. Heinrich has long championed New Mexico’s contributions to national security and defense, including as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee from 2013 to 2020 and as Chairman of the Senate Appropriation’s Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee in 2021 and 2022. 

Supporting Service Members and Families: Heinrich was a strong advocate of several provisions in the bill to support service members and their families.   

These included fully funding the 5.2 percent pay raise for service members, $29.6 billion for housing, and $8.4 billion for subsistence. The bill also adds $20 million for the renovation and repairs of child development centers (CDCs) and $33 million to support programs for childcare workers at CDCs to help address challenges installations around the country are facing in hiring and retaining childcare workers. To expand high-quality, early education at Department of Defense Education Activity schools, $94 million is provided for full-day, universal pre-K—an increase of $66.5 million over last year—which will double enrollment.  

The bill also adds $47 million for continued implementation and expansion of the Sexual Assault Special Victims’ Counsel Program to help survivors of sexual assault seek justice, provides $59.2 million for the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office to support sexual assault prevention programs, and provides $18.3 million, an increase of $10 million over the request, to implement the recommendations of the Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee.   

Defense Communities: Heinrich successfully advocated for an increase of $451 million above the President’s budget to support defense communities, including: $50 million for the Defense Community Infrastructure Program; and $401 million for defense environmental mitigation activities, including PFAS cleanup, aqueous film-forming foam removal and disposal, the Military Munitions Response Program, the Installation Restoration Program, and the Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration Program.  

Artificial Intelligence: Heinrich secured $100 million above the President’s budget request to advance the DOD’s adoption of artificial intelligence, including $10 million to accelerate the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer’s investments in autonomy. 

Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI): The bill includes $300 million in funding for USAI, as requested, to continue support for Ukraine. Separately, the bill provides $4.6 million above the budget request for the Special Inspector General for Operational Atlantic Resolve to support additional oversight over the Department’s activities related to Ukraine. 

Readiness and Resilience: Heinrich secured a $20.3 million increase for addressing encroachment and improving military installation resilience. This bill also includes $3.27 billion to strengthen operational climate and energy resilience at military installations. As Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, Heinrich recently released a report quantifying the economic impact of the climate crisis on military installations and other assets.   

Space Modeling, Simulation, and Analysis Hub: Heinrich secured funding to establish a Space Modeling, Simulation, and Analysis Hub to support simulations of real-world space threats. This Hub will help the U.S. Space Force achieve its 2026 target for delivering maximal operational capability in the form of new, more resilient space systems. New Mexico has a world-class public and private space ecosystem, including an exceptional workforce training pipeline, making the state a national leader on space.   

Directed Energy: Heinrich secured a $18 million increase for research and development of a directed energy, cyber and electronic defense system to effectively counter enemy threats. Albuquerque, New Mexico is the national leader in directed energy, having key assets that are essential to the industry.  

Space Satellite Communications: Heinrich secured a $7.5 million increase for continued research and development of ground-based satellite infrastructure. New Mexico is home to public and private innovation leading the way on space satellite communications.  

Cyber Warfare: Heinrich secured a $15 million increase for the continued research and development of an all-domain environment for information and cyber dominance. New Mexico plays a critical role in using cyber assets to protect Americans from threats at home and abroad.  

Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Bill Highlights

The Fiscal Year 2024 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Appropriations Bill includes a total of $26.7 billion in discretionary funding. 

Taxpayer Services: Heinrich successfully protected funding for Taxpayer Services at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).  These services include the Tax Counseling for the Elderly Program, Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic Grants, and the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service. 

Addressing IRS Backlog: Heinrich also successfully secured report language encouraging the IRS to improve its hiring processes and address servicing backlogs for tax credits, like the Employee Retention Tax Credit. Heinrich has assisted New Mexico businesses and nonprofits recover more than $36 million in Employee Retention Tax Credits. 

Heinrich also successfully secured funding for a total of 21 local projects in the FSGG Appropriations Bill. 

Heinrich secured funding for the following 17 local projects: 

• $338,000 for the New Mexico Small Business Development Center to provide free business management trainings, including programs for hard-to-reach rural clients and minority, underserved populations. 
• $307,000 for DreamSpring to expand its online technical assistance and training materials in English and Spanish for small businesses and entrepreneurs.   
• $300,000 for Three Sisters Kitchen's Manufactured Food Business Training Program to launch Spanish language programming for hands-on training and technical assistance for low-income, aspiring food business entrepreneurs in Bernalillo County.  
• $250,000 for the Partnership for Community Action to start the Quality Child Care Matters Program, which will train small businesses and entrepreneurs to fill critical community needs such as childcare. 
• $250,000 for the Roswell Museum and Art Center to digitize their collection and make it accessible to the public online.  
• $225,000 for the Keshet Ideas and Innovation Community (KIIC) to provide technical assistance in funding strategies, marketing, and industry best practices for small businesses and arts entrepreneurs working in the creative industries.  
• $200,000 for Luna County to provide substance-use prevention outreach, education, and alternative activities for youth in the Deming and Columbus area.  
• $200,000 for DreamSpring to hire a Community Engagement Officer to provide one-on-one technical assistance in English and Spanish to rural small businesses. 
• $200,000 for the University of New Mexico Art Museum to create an online version of their collection that will be available to the public.  
• $175,000 for Girls, Inc. to conduct two programs for girls to build skills for resisting pressure to use illicit substances.   
• $175,000 for the Farmington Museum to digitize the Farmington Daily Times’ archival and photograph collection and provide an online database to facilitate learning about the history and cultures of Farmington and the Four Corners region.  
• $173,000 for WESST to pilot a virtual incubation program for small businesses and entrepreneurs as part of the WESST Incubator.  
• $170,000 for the Borderlands and Ethnic Studies Department at New Mexico State University to expand their program to collect and archive primary sources on Southern New Mexico history to create an online digital archive and lesson plans resource.  
• $160,000 for the Center of Southwest Culture’s Community Development Center to provide year-round technical support, training, and resources to small farmers, cultural tourism efforts, and emerging small businesses in New Mexico.   
• $139,000 for WESST to offer a pilot program, called Making a Living Through Entrepreneurship, to formerly incarcerated individuals.  
• $100,000 for the Asian Business Collaborative to assist small businesses through technical assistance, expertise, and public/private partnership resources.  
• $50,000 for New Mexico Veterans Business Advocates Expo to provide an opportunity for New Mexico’s Veteran-owned businesses to interact with potential partners, customers, and employees, enhancing their opportunities and potential for success. 

Additionally, Heinrich and U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) successfully included funding in the bill for the following four projects: 

• $852,000 for Taos County’s Rural Co-Working and Resource Network Initiative to leverage their existing network of rural community centers to provide space, resources, and technical assistance in support of small businesses.   
• $500,000 for the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture to digitize and create a catalog of a portion of their archives to increase access for scholars, educators, artists, and the wider public. 
• $200,000 for the New Mexico Minority Business Development Center to provide professional business development services to support and promote the growth and success of minority-owned businesses across the state.  
• $116,000 for the New Mexico Museum of Space History to photograph and catalog its object collection and archival records, which will be made accessible on their website. 

Homeland Security Appropriations Bill Highlights

The Fiscal Year 2024 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill includes a total of $61.8 billion in discretionary funding. Heinrich successfully secured funding that supports New Mexico communities, local fire departments and emergency responders; improves physical security at religious centers of worship; and strengthens efforts to counter fentanyl and other narcotics. 

Countering Fentanyl: Heinrich secured over $400 million to improve the detection and seizure of fentanyl and other narcotics. This includes $75.5 million for non-intrusive inspection equipment for in-bound and out-bound operations at ports of entry, $10 million for task forces dedicated to countering fentanyl, and $6 million for maritime operations to counter fentanyl.  

Local Fire Departments: Heinrich secured $648 million for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant Programs at FEMA, which provide funding directly to local fire departments and volunteer firefighters. The grants can be used to increase the number of trained “front line” firefighters, update equipment, and improve readiness. These programs have delivered over $15.3 million to local fire departments across New Mexico from San Juan County to Lea County since 2015.     

Protecting Religious Communities and Nonprofits: Heinrich secured $274.5 million for FEMA's Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which supports critical investments that improve the physical security of at-risk faith-based and charitable organizations.   

Next Generation Warning System:  Heinrich secured $40 million for the Next Generation Warning System, which supports the role of public broadcasting stations in sending out alerts and warnings, as well as enabling emergency responder communications.   

Restricting Family Separation: Heinrich secured report language expressing concern over the lasting traumatic harm to children when they are separated from their parents and legal guardians, and strongly discouraging any family separations unless there is a specific and documented determination by a State-licensed child welfare professional that the separation is in the best interests of a child. This language also directs the Department of Homeland Security to publish data on its website to ensure best practices are followed and family separations are minimized and occurring only when in the best interest of the child.   

Child Welfare Professionals: Heinrich secured language requiring the Department of Homeland Security to provide a report to Congress on the status of hiring previously funded licensed child welfare professionals for Customs and Border Protection facilities that house children.   

Border Wall Remediation: Heinrich secured language requiring the Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection to report on its work with the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture to identify harm inflicted by construction of border barriers on private land, Tribal land, flood-prone areas, and wildlife corridors, as well as recommended remediation measures. This language further requires that the process include consultation with local, State, and Tribal governments, landowners, and non-governmental organizations with environmental and cultural preservation expertise.   

Shelters and Services Program: Heinrich secured $650 million in funding for the Shelter and Services Program, which supports state, local, and non-profit service providers who assist the federal government by providing essential services to individuals and families after they leave Department of Homeland Security custody.   

Multilingual Emergency Notifications: Heinrich secured language directing the Department of Homeland Security to provide a detailed report of expenditures that relate to ensuring limited English proficiency communities receive emergency alerts in their primary language.   

Heinrich also successfully secured funding for a total of six local projects in the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill. 

Heinrich secured funding for the following project: 

• $750,000 for Bernalillo County to redesign the Bernalillo County Emergency Operations Center and upgrade the information technology systems and displays.  

Additionally, Heinrich and Luján secured funding for the following five local projects:  

• $1,040,000 for the Town of Estancia to plan, design, and construct a FEMA-approved flood retention structure.  
• $450,000 to Los Alamos County to mitigate fire danger to the Jemez Mountains and the surrounding area by upgrading and undergrounding electric lines and building a water tank and a water pipeline to create a reliable source of water.  
• $300,000 for the City of Aztec to plan, design, and construct improvements to the City’s flood mitigation plan, including improving existing culverts and storm drainage and stabilizing arroyo banks and detention basins.  
• $250,000 for the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs to clear dead trees and brush and remove invasive species from the Fort Stanton Historic Site in Lincoln County, reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfires in the Lincoln National Forest. 
• $150,000 to the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs to mitigate forest health decline and reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires at the Bosque Redondo Memorial at Fort Sumner Historic Site. 

Additionally, Heinrich, Luján, and U.S. Representative Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) secured funding for the following local project: 

• $637,195 for Sierra County to develop an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to aid nearby communities by providing a centralized location of emergency response and recovery operations during emergency incidents.

Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Bill Highlights

The Fiscal Year 2024 Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill includes $222.2 billion in discretionary funding. Heinrich successfully secured language in the bill to support health care workforce development, improve college degree completion, and prevent firearm injuries and deaths. 

Health Workforce: Heinrich successfully included increased funding for the National Health Service Corps and directed the Corps to increase the number of scholarships they provide to students from rural communities to increase equitable access to medical school and help address the rural provider workforce shortage.   

Navajo Birth Cohort Study: Heinrich successfully included $180 million for the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program, which funds the Navajo Birth Cohort Study. Additionally, the bill encourages the expansion of the study to include a larger representation of Navajo children to better understand the impacts of environmental exposure in the Navajo Nation.   

Firearm Injury Prevention: Heinrich successfully secured funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health to study firearm injury and mortality prevention. This study will improve our ability to keep children safe, reduce violent crime, and prevent suicide among veterans and service members.   

Communication Services: Heinrich successfully included funding and report language to ensure that more New Mexicans who speak a language other than English have meaningful access to programs and benefits that are conducted or supported by federal agencies.  

Air Quality Research: Heinrich successfully secured language directing the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to conduct research to better understand the health implications of indoor combustion sources.  

Maternal and Child Health Block Grant: Heinrich successfully secured $603,584,000 for the Maternal & Child Health Block Grant, which supports a range of programs to improve the health and well-being of women, infants, children, and adolescents throughout the state.   

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism: Heinrich successfully secured report language that emphasizes the impact that alcohol-related morbidity and mortality has on Indigenous, frontier, and rural communities and encourages the National Institutes of Health to fund studies that support rural and underserved communities.  

College Retention and Completion: Heinrich successfully protected funding for the Postsecondary Student Success Grant, which invests in evidence-based strategies that support student engagement and degree completion.    

Multilingual Teacher Pipeline:  Heinrich successfully included report language that supports initiatives to build multilingual teacher pipelines through multilingual Grow-Your-Own programs. Taking an asset-based approach to language instruction — for example, by encouraging students and families to maintain their heritage languages while also learning English or incorporating culturally relevant texts — has been shown to increase students’ academic achievement.  

Increasing Hispanic PhDs Pilots: Heinrich successfully included report language to prioritize projects that will fund a consortium of research-intensive Hispanic Serving Institutions in order to align and amplify proven strategies and academic opportunities for Hispanic PhD students. Bringing those institutions together to collaborate more closely will allow them to share best practices and create a broad and comprehensive support network for Hispanic students. 

Career, Technical, and Adult Education National Programs: Heinrich successfully included report language that would increase collaboration between Department of Labor programs and Department of Education career and technical education programs. By increasing collaboration between local school districts and workforce development systems, career and technical education programs can strengthen completion rates and improve pathways into high-quality jobs. 

Heinrich also successfully secured funding for a total of 24 local projects in the Labor, HHS, and Education Appropriations Bill. 

Heinrich secured funding for the following 18 local projects: 

• $3,905,000 for the University of New Mexico’s Neonatal Opiate Withdrawal Syndrome (NOWS) Project to expand its training program statewide for providers who treat babies exposed to opioids in utero.   
• $1,800,000 for the Presbyterian Española Hospital to create the first ASAM Level 3.7 facility in New Mexico. Level 3.7 programs provide service coordination for people suffering with substance use disorders.  
• $1,350,000 for the Next Generation Building Trades program at Southwest Piping Institute to provide New Mexicans specialized training for skills needed to fulfill jobs created by the CHIPS Act and Inflation Reduction Act.   
• $1,000,000 for Carlsbad Lifehouse to develop a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic in Southeastern New Mexico. 
• $944,000 for Las Cumbres Community Services Adult Services Program to expand services for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Northern New Mexico.  
• $900,000 for Mora County Ambulance Services to purchase a new ambulance to respond to medical emergencies in Northern New Mexico.  
• $780,000 for the Amador Health Center to expand its current building to treat mental health and substance use disorders in Southern New Mexico.  
• $700,000 for Taos Whole Community Health Substance Abuse Treatment Expansion to combat the addiction epidemic by bringing in specialized clinicians in substance use disorder.   
• $530,000 for Women in Leadership to expand their outreach, engagement, and trainings to prevent drug overdoses in Central and Southeastern New Mexico.  
• $516,000 for Gallup Community Health’s Behavioral Health Program to expand its mental health services to include onsite behavioral health and substance use disorder counseling and case management.  
• $500,000 for Navajo Preparatory School to create the Classrooms Without Walls Leadership Program to help students develop advocacy and communication skills to support community building within Tribal nations.   
• $500,000 for Central New Mexico Community College’s Special Education Teacher Training (SETT) to expand the Teacher Residency Model and SETT Program to recruit and retain special education teachers in Albuquerque Public Schools.   
• $427,000 for Las Cruces Public Schools to launch the Academic Career-Experience Career Ready Toolbox Program to support high school students in career readiness. 
• $300,000 for Albuquerque Sign Language Academy to develop the Adult Workforce Training Program Hub to enhance educational and career opportunities for deaf, hard of hearing, and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  
• $250,000 for Dual Language Education of New Mexico to use the CLAVES model to support the needs of bilingual, multicultural education programs by providing high-quality professional development to teachers serving bilingual and culturally diverse students.  
• $213,000 for Young Fathers New Mexico to strengthen and expand community-based services to prevent child abuse and neglect.  
• $113,000 for the Siembra Leadership High School’s Dual Credit Project that will partner with Central New Mexico Community College to increase dual credit attainment by high school students.   
• $35,000 for the Pueblo of Laguna Opioid Treatment Project to distribute overdose prevention products and naloxone to reduce overdose rates within the Pueblo. 

Additionally, Heinrich and Luján successfully included funding in the bill for the following six projects:    

• $1,993,000 for the New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion (OBAE) to build a broadband workforce trailer to provide broadband training in communities across the state.  
• $1,000,000 for the Gila Regional Medical Center to purchase and install a new MRI machine to better serve constituents in Grant, Hidalgo, and Catron Counties.  
• $700,000 for the New Mexico Department of Health to create a Primary Care Community Hub to recruit, retain, and support primary care and behavioral health providers throughout New Mexico.  
• $500,000 for the University of New Mexico to conduct the Measuring Child Maltreatment Project to assess the prevalence of child abuse and neglect in New Mexico.  
• $350,000 for the Pueblo of Santa Clara to design a behavioral healthcare facility to provide services in an environment that promotes security, health, and healing.  
• $247,000 for El Puente de Encuentro’s Proyecto Crecer to create a culturally and linguistically diverse pipeline for behavioral health professionals in New Mexico. 

State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill Highlights

The Fiscal Year 2024 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Bill includes $58.346 billion in total funding. Heinrich successfully secured language in the bill to help stop the global flow of synthetic drugs like fentanyl, combat the climate crisis, and boost support for humanitarian assistance programs. 

Fighting the Flow of Fentanyl: Heinrich successfully included $125 million to support efforts to address the global flow of synthetic drugs, like fentanyl, and their precursor materials by increasing diplomatic engagement, law enforcement cooperation and capacity building, and governance capacity support. The bill also requires the Department of State to designate a Counter Fentanyl Coordinator to coordinate these initiatives, and it fully funds the implementation of the FENTANYL Results Act to build foreign law enforcement capacity to detect synthetic drugs like fentanyl. 

Targeting International Narcotics: Heinrich secured $1.4 billion to strengthen the U.S. State Department’s mission in breaking up transnational organized crime by reducing the production and trafficking of illicit fentanyl and other drugs. 

Combatting the Climate Crisis: Heinrich successfully advocated for additional funding for bilateral and multilateral mechanisms to support biodiversity, adaptation, sustainable landscapes, and clean energy programs, including $125 million for the Clean Technology Fund.  

Humanitarian Assistance: Heinrich successfully included $8.7 billion—a $336.4 million boost above fiscal year 2023—for humanitarian assistance programs to help meet the unprecedented levels of forced displacement, food insecurity, and other emergency needs across the globe in order to save lives, stabilize communities, and improve global security.  

Global Health Initiatives: Heinrich supported the inclusion of $10 billion to support critical global health initiatives, including combatting HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and tropical diseases.  

Migration and Refugee Assistance: Heinrich secured $3.94 billion to assist families seeking refuge from life-threatening situations across the globe, including refugees from Ukraine. 

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