Gov. pushes $25M senior trust fund

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Tuesday touted a plan to create a $25 million trust fund for senior services.

The meeting was moved to the hallway outside Lujan Grisham’s office after a woman collapsed against the wall inside the governor’s office suite and state Human Services Secretary David Scrase, a medical doctor, rushed through the crowd to tend to her before she was wheeled away in an office chair. A spokeswoman said the woman felt faint and was treated by Scrase.

“The governor checked on her and spoke to her. She departed in good spirits but was going to get checked out,” said department spokeswoman Jodi McGinnis Porter.

During the news conference, Lujan Grisham argued to dozens in attendance that senior programs in New Mexico have not been properly funded for years and said the $25 million trust fund will help provide for much-needed services for senior citizens, such as transportation and Meals on Wheels.

The governor decried years of funding shortages, especially in rural areas of the state.

“You are seeing bipartisan leadership reengaging and making sure we do everything we possibly can to not only return from that dearth of investment and lack of services, particularly in rural areas in the state, but also that we’re looking forward to a growing aging population,” she told the crowd.

Rep. Debbie Armstrong, D-Albuquerque, one of 27 sponsors of House Bill 225, argued that creating a permanent fund that could be disbursed by the state will help address the many “unmet needs” in a community of hundreds of thousands of senior citizens in New Mexico.

Called the “Kiki Saavedra Senior Dignity Fund” after the late state representative from Albuquerque, the measure would create a trust fund for senior services with an initial one-time $25 million appropriation.

The fund is part of the governor’s broader spending request before lawmakers, who will work out the details of the fiscal year 2021 budget in the coming weeks. The governor also proposed $39 million to upgrade senior citizen facilities as a separate budget item in her recommendation to the Legislature.

AARP New Mexico spokeswoman Beth Velasquez said the organization is “very excited” by the prospect of receiving more funding for a community that is often underserved. The money would go the Aging and LongTerm Services Department, and it could be used on anything from transportation to home-delivered meals for low-income senior citizens.

“And funding for those services the last couple years has been kind of flat, so any infusion of cash is going to help us offer more and better services to the seniors,” Velasquez said.