New Mexico agency says it is unable to move despite mandate

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission has been asked to vacate their office space by Sept. 30, but a top official says it is ill-prepared to do so, the Albuquerque Journal reported.

State officials had previously issued an order for the commission to vacate its PERA building in Santa Fe by June 30 in order to make room for the newly created Early Childhood Education and Care Department. That order was later extended to September.

But, the agency is in no position to move because it has no money left to lease a new office, nor does it have the funds for temporary housing or storage space for equipment, furniture and files, said PRC chief of staff Jason Montoya.

“The GSD issued us an eviction letter with no appropriations provided and nothing in the current operating budget to lease an office,” Montoya said. “We’ve been told that no other state space will be made available to the PRC in the near future.”

The commission is seeking either a grant or loan from the Department of Finance and Administration in order to find new housing. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham vetoed $490,000 in funding in March and another $364,000 was cut in June, which reduced the office's funding for 2021 from $15.2 to $14.35 million, Montoya said.

The PRC has called the PERA Building home for more than two decades.