The proposal, however, was overhauled Tuesday in the Senate Finance Committee.
The new version would ask voters to boost distributions out of the Land Grant Permanent Fund by an extra 1.25 percentage points – rather than 1 point – and some of the money would be dedicated to K-12 education, not just early childhood programs, as originally envisioned.
The heftier proposal passed the committee on a 7-4 party-line vote – with Democrats in favor – and now heads to the full Senate.
Sen. Jacob Candelaria, an Albuquerque Democrat who sponsored Tuesday’s revisions, said the proposal would generate an extra $127 million a year for early childhood education and $84 million to expand services for at-risk students, compensate teachers and extend the school year.