I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
While Gov. Bill Richardson has said that he would seek to bridge the budget gap by cutting services including Medicaid, he has said that rescinding the 2004 tax cuts is one option that is off the table as far as he’s concerned.
But state Sen. Linda Lopez, an Albuquerque Democrat, thinks that isn’t such a great idea and penned a guest blog at Democracy for New Mexico. She writes, “New Mexico should never have given a tax break to its wealthiest residents. It was a mistake and we’re paying for it now more than ever.”
Lopez says that the vote in 2003 to “dramatically lower the tax rate for our state’s highest income earners” has cost New Mexico “nearly half a billion dollars in revenues to the state’s general fund every year.”
“I find it to be a sad coincidence that budget shortfall estimates are quickly reaching the half billion-dollar mark,” she says.
Lopez introduced legislation to return the tax rate to 2003 levels last session and writes that the Legislative Council Services estimated doing so “would have created an additional $224,460,000 in revenues for fiscal year ‘10 and $459,320,000 for fiscal year ’11.”
Lopez joins state Sen. Eric Griego in voicing displeasure at Richardson’s plan to bridge the budget gap using only cuts to social services.
Griego, also an Albuquerque Democrat, said he is willing to filibuster the proposed one-day special session. But not only him, he said, “I think there are several of us willing to do that.”
State senators can filibuster for three hours at a time.
