New Mexico Constitutional Amendment 1, Land Grant Permanent Fund Distribution for Early Childhood Education Amendment (2022)

New Mexico Constitutional Amendment 1
Election date November 8, 2022
Topic State and local government budgets, spending and finance
Status a Approved
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature

New Mexico Constitutional Amendment 1, the Funding for Early Childhood Programs Amendment, was on the ballot in New Mexico as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 8, 2022.The ballot measure was approved.

A "yes" vote supported allocating 1.25% of the five-year average of year-end market values of the money in the Land Grant Permanent Fund (LGPF) to early childhood education and the public school permanent fund and providing that the allocation would not occur if the average year-end market value for the preceding five years of the LGPF fund balance was below $17 billion.

A "no" vote opposed this amendment to allocate 1.25% of the five-year average of year-end market values of the money in the Land Grant Permanent Fund (LGPF) to early childhood education and the public school permanent fund.

Election results

New Mexico Constitutional Amendment 1
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		472,826	70.34%
No		199,347	29.66%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Aftermath

Congressional approval of increased distribution

Since the Land Grant Permanent Fund was created by the federal government, New Mexico needs congressional approval to increase the amount distributed from the fund as well as voter approval. U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D), U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D), U.S. Rep. Melanie Ann Stansbury (D), and U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D) sponsored the New Mexico Education Enhancement Act in the house and senate. The congressional authorization passed in the fiscal year 2023 Omnibus federal spending bill.

Overview

How did Constitutional Amendment 1 change the distribution of the Land Grant Permanent Fund?

See also: Measure design

Constitutional Amendment 1 allocated 1.25% of the five-year average of year-end market values of the money in the Land Grant Permanent Fund to early childhood education (60% of the allocation) and public education (40% of the allocation). As of 2022, the New Mexico Constitution provided that the annual distribution from the fund was 5% to 21 designated fund beneficiaries. This amendment increased the total annual distribution to 6.25%. The amendment also provided that if the average year-end market value for the preceding five years of the LGPF dropped to $17 billion allocations would be halted until the fund amount increased. Constitutional Amendment 1 would allocate 1.25% of the five-year average of year-end market values of the money in the Land Grant Permanent Fund to early childhood education (60% of the allocation) and public education (40% of the allocation). As of 2020, the New Mexico Constitution provided that the annual distribution from the fund was 5% to 21 designated fund beneficiaries. This amendment increased the total annual distribution to 6.25%. The amendment also provided that if the average year-end market value for the preceding five years of the LGPF dropped to $17 billion allocations would be halted until the fund amount increased.

What is the Land Grant Permanent Fund?

See also: Land Grant Permanent Fund

The Land Grant Permanent Fund (LGPF) is also known as the Permanent School Fund. Revenue in the LGPF comes from leases and royalties on non-renewable natural resources, such as oil and gas, and returns on invested capital. It was established when New Mexico became a state in 1912. The New Mexico State Land Office, which is under the New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands, oversees the collection of revenue from leases and royalties.

How did Constitutional Amendment 1 get placed on the ballot?

See also: Path to the ballot

Constitutional Amendment 1 was introduced as House Joint Resolution 1 on January 19, 2021. On February 12, 2021, the state House passed HJR 1 in a vote of 44-23 with three absent. On March 18, 2021, the state Senate passed an amended version in a vote of 26-16. The vote was along party lines, except Sen. Bill G. Tallman was the only Democrat to vote against the amendment. The state House concurred on March 19.

Measure design

Constitutional Amendment 1 allocated 1.25% of the five-year average of year-end market values of the money in the Land Grant Permanent Fund to early childhood education (60% of the allocation) and public education (40% of the allocation). The Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) estimated that the additional allocation would be about $245.7 million in fiscal year 2023. Of that total, the measure was designed to allocate $126.9 million for early childhood education, $84.6 million to public education, and $34.2 million for the LGPF’s other beneficiaries.

The LGPF is also known as the Permanent School Fund. Revenue in the LGPF comes from leases and royalties on non-renewable natural resources, such as oil and gas, and returns on invested capital. At the end of calendar year 2021, the fund was valued at $25.8 billion. In 2022, the New Mexico Constitution provided that the annual distribution from the fund was 5% to 21 designated fund beneficiaries. This amendment increased the total annual distribution to 6.25%. The amendment was designed to provide that if the average year-end market value for the preceding five years of the LGPF dropped to $17 billion allocations would be halted until the fund amount increased. Between 2016 and 2020, the average year-end market value for the fund was $18 billion.

Constitutional Amendment 1 defined early childhood education as "nonsectarian and nondenominational education for children until they are eligible for kindergarten."

In addition to being approved by state voters, the amendment would also have to be approved by U.S. Congress because the LGPF was established by federal law and early childhood education is not specified in that law.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title was as follows:

“

Proposing an amendment to Article 12, Section 7 of the constitution of New Mexico to provide for additional annual distributions of the permanent school fund for enhanced instruction for students at risk of failure, extending the school year, teacher compensation and early childhood education; Requiring congressional approval for distributions for early childhood education.

”

Constitutional changes

See also: Article XII, New Mexico Constitution

Constitutional Amendment 1 amended Section 7 of Article XII of the New Mexico Constitution. The following underlined text was added and struck-through text was deleted:

Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.

Text of Section 7:

Investment of Permanent School Fund

A. As used in this section, "fund land grant permanent funds" means the permanent school fund described in Article 12, Section 2 of this constitution and all other permanent funds derived from lands granted or confirmed to the state by the act of congress of June 20, 1910, entitled “An act to enable the people of New Mexico to form a constitution and state government and be admitted into the union on an equal footing with the original states.”

B. The fund land grant permanent funds shall be invested by the state investment officer in accordance with policy regulations rules promulgated by the state investment council.

C. In making investments, the state investment officer, under the supervision of the state investment council, shall invest and manage the fund land grant permanent funds in accordance with the Uniform Prudent Investor Act.

D. The legislature may establish criteria for investing the fund land grant permanent funds if the criteria are enacted by a three-fourths vote of the members elected to each house, but investment of the fund land grant permanent funds is subject to the following restrictions:

(1) not more than sixty-five percent of the book value of the fund land grant permanent funds shall be invested at any given time in corporate stocks;

(2) not more than ten percent of the voting stock of a corporation shall be held; and

(3) stocks eligible for purchase shall be restricted to those stocks of businesses listed upon a national stock exchange or included in a nationally recognized list of stocks;

E. All additions to the fund land grant permanent funds and all earnings, including interest, dividends and capital gains from investment of the fund land grant permanent funds shall be credited to the fund land grant permanent funds.

F. Except as provided in Subsection G of this section, theThe annual distributions from the fund land grant permanent funds to the beneficiaries specified in the Ferguson Act and the Enabling Act shall be five percent of the average of the year-end market values of the fund land grant permanent funds for the immediately preceding five calendar years.

G. In addition to the annual distribution distributions made pursuant to Subsection F of this section, unless suspended pursuant to Subsection HJ of this section, an additional annual distribution of one and one-fourth percent of the average of the year-end market value of the permanent school fund for the immediately preceding five calendar years shall be made pursuant to the following scheduleas provided in Subsection H of this section; provided that no the additional distribution shall not be made pursuant to the provisions of this subsection in any fiscal year if the average of the year-end market values of the fund land grant permanent funds for the immediately preceding five calendar years is less than ten billion dollars ($10,000,000,000) seventeen billion dollars ($17,000,000,000):

(1) in fiscal years 2005 through 2012, an amount equal to eight-tenths percent of the average of the year-end market values of the fund for the immediately preceding five calendar years; provided that any additional distribution from the permanent school fund pursuant to this paragraph shall be used to implement and maintain educational reforms as provided by law; and

(2) in fiscal years 2013 through 2016, an amount equal to one-half percent of the average of the year-end market values of the fund for the immediately preceding five calendar years; provided that any additional distribution from the permanent school fund pursuant to this paragraph shall be used to implement and maintain educational reforms as provided by law.

H. Unless suspended pursuant to Subsection G or J of this section, the additional distribution from the permanent school fund provided for in Subsection G of this section shall be as follows and as provided by law:

(1) forty percent of the additional distribution shall be for the public school permanent fund beneficiary for enhanced instruction for students at risk of failure, extending the school year and public school teacher compensation; and

(2) sixty percent of the additional distribution shall be for the provision of early childhood education.

I. As used in this section, "early childhood education" means nonsectarian and nondenominational education for children until they are eligible for kindergarten.

J.The legislature, by a three-fifths’ vote of the members elected to each house, may suspend any additional distribution provided for in Subsection G of this section.

Full text

The full text can be read here.

Readability score

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2022

Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The state legislature wrote the ballot language for this measure.

The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 19, and the FRE is 7. The word count for the ballot title is 51.

Support

Vote Yes for Kids led the campaign in support of Constitutional Amendment 1.

Supporters

Officials

• State Rep. Jacob Candelaria (Independent)
• State Rep. Leo Jaramillo (D)
• State Rep. Pete Campos (D)
• State Rep. Georgene Louis (D)
• State Rep. Antonio Maestas (D)
• State Rep. Javier Martínez (D)
• State Rep. Elizabeth Thomson (D)
• State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard (D)

Organizations

• CHI St. Joseph’s Children
• Center for Civic Policy
• Nava Education Project
• New Mexico Voices for Children
• Partnership for Community Action
• Save the Children Action Network

Arguments

• State Sen. Leo Jaramillo (D): "Studies show that pre-kindergarten and other programs for kids 5 and under later pay off with higher high school graduation rates and fewer incarcerations."
• Kimberly Robson, chief operating officer of the Save the Children Action Network: "New Mexico has a unique opportunity to lead the country by demonstrating how states can provide permanent revenue streams for early childhood education without raising taxes."
• Stephanie Garcia Richard, land commissioner of New Mexico: "Did you know that New Mexico sits on one of the wealthiest permanent funds in the country? The Land Grant Permanent Fund, which is valued at about $25 billion, is a trust fund set aside to invest in an even more valuable resource — our children. ... This is more important than ever, because as we learned this week from the national Kids Count Data Book, a 50-state report released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, New Mexico is once again ranked dead last in child well-being."

Opposition

Opponents

Officials

• State Rep. William Sharer (R)

Arguments

• State Sen. Bill Sharer (R): “Each time we tap into it, we harm that compound interest,” he said of the endowment. “Each time we do that, sometime in the future we are somehow harming children.”

Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance requirements for New Mexico ballot measures

The campaign finance information on this page reflects the most recent scheduled reports that Ballotpedia has processed, which covered through January 9, 2023.

Ballotpedia identified two committees registered in support of Constitutional Amendment 1—Vote Yes for Kids and Yes on the Children's Amendment. The committees reported $5.8 million in cash and in-kind contributions.

	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions	Cash Expenditures	Total Expenditures
Support	$4,444,691.76	$1,409,419.43	$5,854,111.19	$4,198,474.11	$5,607,893.54
Oppose	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Total	$4,444,691.76	$1,409,419.43	$5,854,111.19	$4,198,474.11	$5,607,893.54

Support

The following table includes contribution and expenditure totals for the committees in support of the measure.

Committees in support of Constitutional Amendment 1
Committee	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions	Cash Expenditures	Total Expenditures
Vote Yes for Kids	$2,700,576.76	$1,409,419.43	$4,109,996.19	$2,454,359.11	$3,863,778.54
Yes on the Childrens Amendment	$1,744,115.00	$0.00	$1,744,115.00	$1,744,115.00	$1,744,115.00
Total	$4,444,691.76	$1,409,419.43	$5,854,111.19	$4,198,474.11	$5,607,893.54

Donors

The following were the top donors who contributed to the support committees.

Donor	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions
National Education Association	$1,730,000.00	$0.00	$1,730,000.00
Impact Fellows Fund	$500,000.00	$0.00	$500,000.00
Organizers in the Land of Enchantment	$0.00	$464,527.12	$464,527.12
CHI St Josephs Children	$353,000.00	$16,703.55	$369,703.55
Heising Simons Action Fund	$300,000.00	$0.00	$300,000.00

Media editorials

See also: 2022 ballot measure media endorsements

Ballotpedia identified the following media editorial boards as taking positions on the initiative.

Ballotpedia lists the positions of media editorial boards that support or oppose ballot measures. This does not include opinion pieces from individuals or groups that do not represent the official position of a newspaper or media outlet. Ballotpedia includes editorials from newspapers and outlets based on circulation and readership, political coverage within a state, and length of publication. You can share media editorial board endorsements with us at editor@ballotpedia.org.

Support

Ballotpedia has not identified any media editorials in support of Constitutional Amendment 1.

Opposition

• Albuquerque Journal Editorial Board: "New Mexico is already rolling in more new revenue — $2.5 billion at last count — thanks to high oil and gas production. Without the amendment the permanent fund is expected to distribute $952 million just to education in fiscal 2024 and more than $1 billion in 2025. And the state established an Early Childhood Education and Care Fund in 2020, with the original $300 million growing to an estimated $2 billion this summer and expected to hit $4 billion by 2025. Like the permanent fund, that growth is also courtesy of oil and gas and investments. Meanwhile, annual funding for early childhood programs has exploded from $179 million to $579 million over a 10-year period. ... But critics correctly point out increasing withdrawals would leave the state with smaller annual distributions over the long haul because of slowed growth in the fund. ... Voters should instead reject the constitutional amendment and vote no — for the sake of New Mexico’s children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and on and on."

Polls

See also: 2022 ballot measure polls

Are you aware of a poll on this ballot measure that should be included below? You can share ballot measure polls, along with source links, with us at editor@ballotpedia.org.

New Mexico Constitutional Amendment 1, Land Grant Permanent Fund Distribution for Early Childhood Education Amendment (2022)
Poll	Dates	Sample size	Margin of error	Support	Oppose	Undecided

Research & Polling Inc.	8/19/2022-8/25/2022	518 LV	± 4.3%	69%	15%	16%
	Question: "Do you support or oppose the proposed constitutional amendment that would distribute more money from New Mexico’s Land Grant Permanent School Fund to be used for early childhood education, teacher compensation and K-12 education programs?"

Note: LV is likely voters, RV is registered voters, and EV is eligible voters.

Background

Land Grant Permanent Fund

The LGPF is also known as the Permanent School Fund. Revenue in the LGPF comes from leases and royalties on non-renewable natural resources, such as oil and gas, and returns on invested capital. It was established when New Mexico became a state in 1912. The New Mexico State Land Office, which is under the New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands, oversees the collection of revenue from leases and royalties. The fund is managed and invested by the 11-member State Investment Council.

At the end of calendar year 2021, the fund was valued at $25.8 billion.

Beneficiaries of the fund

In fiscal year 2020, the 21 beneficiaries of the Land Grant Permanent Fund received over $784 million.

Click show to expand the table displaying beneficiaries and distributions of the Land Grant Permanent Fund.

Land Grant Permanent Fund (Fiscal year ending June 30, 2020)
Beneficiary	Distribution received from fund	Percent of fund
Common Schools	$673,464,813.74	86.127%
University of New Mexico	$9,629,654.90	1.202%
UNM Saline Lands	$334,269.02	0.041%
New Mexico State University	$2,979,812.64	0.369%
Western New Mexico University	$176,625.95	0.022%
New Mexico Highlands University	$175,740.18	0.022%
Northern New Mexico College	$143,412.40	0.018%
Eastern New Mexico University	$545,433.72	0.067%
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology	$1,354,463.88	0.168%
New Mexico Military Institute	$22,850,357.37	2.859%
New Mexico Boys School	$37,865.57	0.005%
DHI Miners Hospital	$6,269,788.23	0.778%
New Mexico State Hospital	$2,627,216.94	0.333%
New Mexico State	$13,784,275.89	1.726%
New Mexico School for the Deaf	$13,636,919.47	1.703%
New Mexico School for the Blind & Visually Impaired	$13,609,784.47	1.699%
Charitable Penal & Reform	$5,556,064.34	0.689%
Water Reservoir	$6,968,761.94	0.863%
Improve Rio Grande	$1,556,192.09	0.193%
Public Buildings Capital	$8,538,919.86	1.114%
Carrie Tingley	$9,547.40	0.001%
Total	$784,249,920.00

The Ferguson Act (1898)

The United States Congress passed the Ferguson Act in 1898. The act authorized sections 16 and 36 of every township or other lands in lieu of those designated but occupied by Native American tribes to be leased for the benefit of public schools. The act also allocated 5% of the revenue from the sale of public lands "to be used as a permanent fund, the interest of which shall only be expended for the support of the common schools within said territory." The Public Land Board composed of the public lands commissioner, territorial governor, and territorial solicitor general designated the beneficiaries of the land.

The Enabling Act (1910)

The Enabling Act was passed in 1910. The act granted sections 2 and 32 in every township to the territory of New Mexico “for the support of common schools.” It also gave 1 million acres to the territory and required 5% of any subsequent sale or lease of public lands in New Mexico after it became a state to be deposited into the permanent school fund.

Congressional authorization

Since the Land Grant Permanent Fund was created by the federal government, New Mexico needs congressional approval to increase the amount distributed from the fund as well as voter approval. On December 10, 2021, Democratic U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján and two Democratic U.S. Representatives Melanie Stansbury and Teresa Leger Fernandez announced the introduction of a bill to increase the amount that can be withdrawn from the fund.

Other ballot measures related to the Land Grant Permanent Fund

Ballotpedia has tracked three ballot measures related to the Land Grant Permanent Fund. All three were approved.

• a New Mexico Amendment 5 (2014): Allowed more than 15% of the fund to be invested in international securities; provided for the investment and management of the fund in accordance with the Uniform Prudent Investor Act; and raised the reserve required to be maintained in the fund from $5.8 billion to $10 billion
• a New Mexico Amendment 2 (2003): Increased the distribution from 4.7% to 5% from the state's permanent funds to bolster funding for the state's public school districts and allowed for a limited additional increase up to 5.8% between 2006 and 2012 and up to 5.5% between 2013 and 2016
• a New Mexico Amendment 1 (1996): Limited distributions of state permanent funds and allowed diversification of investments

Education funding ballot measures in 2022

Five ballot measures related to education funding were certified for the 2022 ballot in five states.

State	Measure	Description	Outcome
California	Proposition 28, Art and Music K-12 Education Funding Initiative	Requires funding for K-12 art and music education
Colorado	Reduce Income Tax Deduction Amounts to Fund School Meals Program Measure	Reduces the allowable state income tax deduction amounts; creates and funds the Healthy School Meals for All Program
Idaho	Income and Corporate Tax Changes and Education Funding Advisory Question	Advising the legislature to enact a flat income and corporate tax rate structure, send tax rebates to qualifying taxpayers, and dedicate $400 million annually to education
Massachusetts	Question 1, Tax on Income Above $1 Million for Education and Transportation Amendment	Creates a 4% tax on incomes that exceed $1 million for education and transportation purposes
New Mexico	Constitutional Amendment 1, Land Grant Permanent Fund Distribution for Early Childhood Education Amendment	Funds devoted to early childhood programs from the Land Grant Permanent Fund

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the New Mexico Constitution

In New Mexico, both chambers of the New Mexico State Legislature need to approve a constitutional amendment by a simple majority during one legislative session to refer the amendment to the ballot for voter consideration.

This amendment was introduced as House Joint Resolution 1 on January 19, 2021. On February 12, 2021, the state House passed HJR 1 in a vote of 44-23 with three absent. On March 18, 2021, the state Senate passed an amended version in a vote of 26-16. The vote was along party lines, except Sen. Bill G. Tallman was the only Democrat to vote against the amendment. The state House concurred on March 19. The state House vote details listed below are from the House floor vote prior to the amendment.

Vote in the New Mexico House of Representatives February 12, 2021
Requirement: Simple majority of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 36  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	44	23	3
Total percent	62.86%	32.85%	4.29%
Democrat	42	2	1
Republican	2	21	1
Independent	0	0	1

Vote in the New Mexico State Senate March 18, 2021
Requirement: Simple majority of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 22  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	26	16	0
Total percent	61.9%	38.1%	0%
Democrat	26	1	0
Republican	0	15	0

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting in New Mexico

Click "Show" to learn more about voter registration, identification requirements, and poll times in New Mexico.

How to cast a vote in New Mexico

Poll times In New Mexico, all polls are open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Mountain Time on Election Day. An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote. Registration requirements Check your voter registration status here. To register to vote in New Mexico, each applicant must be a citizen of the United States, a resident of New Mexico, and at least 18 years old by the time of the next election. People convicted of a felony are eligible to vote after their prison time is completed, even if they are still on probation, parole, or another form of supervised release. Individuals who have been declared mentally incapacitated may not register to vote. Potential New Mexico voters who were not registered automatically may use the New Mexico voter registration form, the national voter registration form, or the state's online voter registration portal to register. Completed registration materials may be mailed or delivered by hand to election officials. To register online, an applicant must have a state-issued ID. First-time applicants registering by mail must attach a valid form of identification to their registration materials, which includes a current and valid photo identification, or, a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, student identification card or other government document, including tribal IDs that show the voter's name and current address. Automatic registration See also: Automatic voter registration New Mexico has automatic voter registration. Eligible voters are automatically registered to vote when they interact with a department of motor vehicles unless they opt out. Online registration See also: Online voter registration New Mexico has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website. Same-day registration See also: Same-day voter registration New Mexico allows same-day voter registration. Residency requirements In New Mexico, individuals can register to vote as soon as they become residents of the state. Verification of citizenship See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States New Mexico does not require proof of citizenship for voter registration. An individual must attest that they are a U.S. citizen when registering to vote. All 49 states with voter registration systems require applicants to declare that they are U.S. citizens in order to register to vote in state and federal elections, under penalty of perjury or other punishment. Seven states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Wyoming — have laws requiring verification of citizenship at the time of voter registration, whether in effect or not. In three states — California, Maryland, and Vermont — at least one local jurisdiction allows noncitizens to vote in some local elections. Noncitizens registering to vote in those elections must complete a voter registration application provided by the local jurisdiction and are not eligible to register as state or federal voters. Verifying your registration The New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office allows residents to check their voter registration status online by visiting this website. Voter ID requirements New Mexico does not require voters to present identification while voting, in most cases. However, if an individual registered to vote for the first time by mail and did not provide verification of his or her identity then, the voter will have to show identification. Those voters can present the following forms of identification: Current and valid photo identification Current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, student identification card, or other government document, including identification issued by an Indian nation, tribe, or pueblo that shows the voter’s name and current address Some municipalities require identification when voting in local elections. Click here for more information.

See also

2022 measures

• 2022 ballot measures
• Budgets on the ballot
• Education on the ballot

New Mexico

• New Mexico ballot measures
• New Mexico ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• Full Text

Support

• Vote Yes for Kids campaign website
• Vote Yes for Kids Facebook page
• Vote Yes for Kids Twitter page

Opposition

Submit links to editor@ballotpedia.org.