Governor orders health, food inspections to resume

SANTA FE — Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham today directed the New Mexico Environment Department to immediately resume routine health and food safety inspections that were temporarily paused due to a funding shortfall in the agency’s Environmental Health Bureau.

“The Environment Department’s decision to halt inspections was premature,” said Governor Lujan Grisham. “We will resolve the agency’s budget shortfall to ensure the crucial service of providing health and safety inspections is uninterrupted moving forward.”

The Environmental Health Bureau oversees routine inspections of thousands of food service establishments — including schools, hospitals, nursing homes and detention centers — as well as public pools and septic systems statewide. The bureau’s 35 inspectors conduct approximately 17,500 inspections per year.

During the January legislative session, the Governor’s Office requested $1.2 million in funding for inspections, but the New Mexico Legislature did not provide the appropriation. The Governor’s Office is working with the Department of Finance and Administration and the Legislative Finance Committee to identify an alternate but appropriate funding source that can be transferred to the Environment Department to allow inspections to resume immediately.

“New Mexicans deserve to know the restaurants, schools and facilities they rely on every day meet basic health and safety standards — and my administration will make sure they do,” Lujan Grisham said.