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 budget problems continue to confound New Mexico, other states do seem to have it worse. California is one of the hardest-hit, according to a Pew Center on the States report called “Beyond California: States in Fiscal Peril.”
The report compares “six measurable factors” that contributed to California’s budget crisis (a budget gap nearing 50 percent with no relief in sight) and how other states compare to California’s plight.
Out of a possible score of 30 (the rating of California), New Mexico scores just a 12; the average among all the states is a 17. Wyoming, which has a budget gap of just 1.7 percent, has the lowest score with a 6.
The nine states that joined California being in a “fiscal crisis” are Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.
Seven of these ten states (including California) have budget gaps of over 20 percent; three (Arizona, California and Illinois) have budget gaps of over 40 percent. The national average is 17.7 percent, and New Mexico has a budget gap of 6.3 percent. All the budget gap numbers are as of July 2009.
“A challenging mix of economic, political and money-management factors have pushed California to the brink of insolvency. But while California often takes the spotlight, other states are facing hardships just as daunting,” said Susan Urahn, managing director of the Pew Center on the States. “Decisions these states make as they try to navigate the recession will play a role in how quickly the entire nation recovers.”
The six factors that Pew used in the report are:
(1) loss of state revenues; (2) the relative size of budget gaps; (3) increasing joblessness; (4) high foreclosure rates; (5) legal obstacles to balanced budgets—specifically, a supermajority requirement for tax increases or budget bills and (6) poor money-management practices.
New Mexico rates above-average in every category except money management practices, or the Government Performance Project Money Grade. This grade, based on 2005 and 2006 numbers, for New Mexico is a B- — the same as the national average.
The report says: “Virtually every state had to make tough decisions this year about where to cut and how to raise additional revenues, including through taxes or fees.”
Governor Bill Richardson has said tax increases will be inevitable during January’s session, prompting a swift reaction from Republicans criticizing the governor’s spending habits.
“The 10 states are hardly the only ones at risk in this time of record-setting revenue drops, high unemployment and far-flung fallout from the housing bust and credit crisis. Virtually all states have been stressed by the downturn,” Urahn said. “We expect that when state lawmakers next spring turn to crafting their new budgets for 2011, many will confront an even tougher set of challenges. States already have made significant cuts, revenues continue to drop, and stimulus funds will be running out. “
