Baja California Sur will receive about 27 billion pesos (roughly $1.45 billion USD) in federal funding in 2027, according to Morena federal deputy Juan Carlos González Bareño, who represents the state in Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies. That figure is about 2 billion pesos (around $107.5 million USD) higher than what was projected for 2026, with the biggest increases earmarked for education and health, González Bareño told El Sudcaliforniano.
The number is part of a much larger national picture. Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies approved the 2027 federal budget on November 9 by a vote of 372 to 102, with Morena, the Labor Party (PT) and Movimiento Ciudadano in favor and PAN and PRI opposed. Total federal spending for 2027 comes in around 10.6 trillion pesos, an increase of about 442.8 billion pesos over 2026 that officials describe as 1.3% real growth, according to N+.
What the Extra Money Covers — and What It Doesn’t
González Bareño said separate budgets for IMSS and ISSSTE, Mexico’s main public health and social security institutes, also grew for 2027, though he said it isn’t yet clear how those increases will be applied region by region. He also pushed back on comparisons suggesting BCS got no increase at all, saying those claims mix up projected figures with later modified ones.
The bigger sticking point is a cut that landed hard in 2026 and isn’t going away. González Bareño confirmed that the reduction hit the Fondo de Aportaciones para la Infraestructura Social (FAIS), the federal fund that pays for municipal infrastructure like roads, water systems and public works across the state’s five municipalities. FAIS dropped by 688 million pesos (about $37 million USD) between 2025 and 2026, a loss that BCS mayors pushed back against at the time. The fund will rise again from 2026 to 2027, but only by about 34 million pesos — roughly $1.83 million USD — meaning most of the cut stays in place next year.
PAN’s state party leader, Rigoberto Mares Aguilar, had previously put the full scope of the 2026 reduction at 766 million pesos, or 6.9%, once other federal transfers were factored in, according to Zeta Tijuana.
A Rising Tourist Fee Could Help Close the Gap
To offset the shortfall, González Bareño said he has asked Hacienda’s undersecretary of expenditures, Bertha Gómez, for additional funds tied to the Derecho de No Residente (DNR), the fee foreign visitors pay to enter Mexico. The 2027 federal fee law raises the DNR from 983 pesos to 1,158 pesos — about $62 USD — making it the second consecutive annual increase, according to Expansión.
Most air travelers never pay the fee separately, since it is usually included in the price of an international plane ticket. With an estimated 2.29 to 2.36 million foreign tourists arriving by air in BCS each year, González Bareño said the state is the second-largest generator of DNR revenue in the country after Quintana Roo, contributing roughly 450 million pesos — about $24.2 million USD — in 2027. The money is split between Mexico’s National Migration Institute, the national defense secretariat (Sedena) and the federal treasury, which González Bareño said could return a portion to BCS.
Where the Rest of the Money Would Go
Beyond the headline 27 billion pesos, González Bareño said various federal agencies have earmarked about 2.5 billion pesos (close to $134.4 million USD) for specific projects in BCS during 2027. The national water commission, Conagua, would put 524 million pesos (about $28.2 million USD) toward the El Novillo dam in La Paz municipality and another 70 million pesos (around $3.76 million USD) into flood-control work on Arroyo Las Bramonas. A 240-bed IMSS hospital planned for Los Cabos would receive 300 million pesos, roughly $16.1 million USD. The federal electricity utility, CFE, also has funds allocated for an internal combustion power plant in Los Cabos and for Vivienda del Bienestar, a federal affordable-housing program.
PAN’s Counterproposal Didn’t Make the Cut
Not every lawmaker from BCS is satisfied with the numbers. PAN federal deputy Francisco “Pancho” Pelayo filed eight budget reservations seeking roughly 1,950 million pesos (about $104.8 million USD) in additional funding for the state, according to HOY BCS. His proposal included 250 million pesos for Los Cabos, 120 million for La Paz, and 90 million each for Comondú, Loreto and Mulegé, plus 400 million pesos for water and sewer infrastructure, 450 million for road maintenance, and 550 million to support farmers and ranchers affected by drought.
Filing a reservation is not the same as getting it approved, and Pelayo’s proposals did not make it into the final budget package. “The budget belongs to the people and should respond to our families’ needs, not remain just numbers and promises,” Pelayo said, criticizing what he called rising federal borrowing. “Mexico and Baja California Sur need solutions for the present, without mortgaging our future,” he added.
For residents watching municipal budgets, the practical takeaway is that road, water and drainage projects funded through FAIS will likely stay constrained for at least another year. For visitors, the change is a higher entry fee built into international airfare, revenue González Bareño hopes to see partly returned to BCS.
