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SNAP benefits used to purchase food by nearly a half-million low-income New Mexicans are being used as a bargaining chip in the government shutdown.

The special legislative session ended Thursday evening in Santa Fe, where all of the bills that addressed the recent federal budget cuts passed while others stalled in committee.

Before the commencement of the New Mexico special legislature session on Wednesday, Democratic state lawmakers outlined their priorities to address the impacts from federal budget cuts.

With federal cuts to food assistance already hitting states, and even more coming down the line, the Legislative Finance Committee told state lawmakers that high rates of food insecurity will likely get worse in New Mexico.

Federal cuts to food assistance through the budget reconciliation bill, better known as the 鈥淏ig Beautiful Bill,鈥� put more than 450,000 New Mexicans at risk seeing their benefits drop by more than 20%, or losing their assistance altogether. But, state officials say they鈥檒l do everything they can to fill gaps left by those federal cuts.

Some of New Mexico鈥檚 top lawmakers and leaders gathered Thursday to discuss the potential impact of the federal 鈥淥ne Big Beautiful Bill Act鈥� on the state鈥檚 most vulnerable populations. U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury, and State Speaker of the House Javier Martinez, both Democrats, spoke at the CommonSpirit St.Joseph鈥檚 Children center along with President of the center, Allen Sanchez.

Lawmakers heard an update on New Mexico鈥檚 social safety net programs during a committee hearing recently and the presenters had plenty of good news about clearing long waiting lists

As the federal Farm Bill continues to stagnate in Congress, U.S. Representative Teresa Leger Fern谩ndez hosted a roundtable this week with New Mexico farmers and ranchers to hear their concerns.

Congress has yet to establish a new Farm Bill after the last one expired in September after five years. The continued delay has left many wondering what the implications might be. Director and Secretary of New Mexico's Department of Agriculture Jeff Witte discussed the impacts New Mexico could face if the Farm Bill doesn鈥檛 get signed soon.

Congress avoided a government shutdown last week with a stopgap funding measure. However, the all-important farm bill, which is passed every five years, expired on September 30. Despite the chaos in Washington, state agriculture experts highlighted benefits the new farm bill will eventually bring during a legislative committee this week.