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.
With less than 24 hours to go in the legislative session, a budget deal remains out of reach for House and Senate leaders.
“We’re probably further apart than in the past,” at this time of the session, Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, told The Independent around 11 a.m. Wednesday.
The legislative session ends Thursday at noon.
“We still have disagreements on enhancement levels and spending cuts,” Smith said, adding that he met with House Speaker Ben Lujan, D-Santa Fe, earlier in the day.
The two chambers have wrangled for weeks without agreeing on how to strike a balance between tax and fee increases and spending cuts to address next year’s projected budget shortfall of several hundred million dollars. Gov. Bill Richardson raised the pressure Tuesday when he threatened to call a special session next week if no budget deal appears by tomorrow.
Legislative leaders have continued to meet and Smith said he remains optimistic even through time is short.
But leaders are running out of time to finalize a state budget package. Smith estimated that time as late Wednesday because of all the logistical hurdles legislative leaders and legislative staff must overcome. They must print a budget bill, various amendments and line up the votes before the legislation hits the floor.
“Obviously time is of the essence. (Things) have to run smoothly,” Smith said.
State officials say that the state’s reserves are so low that New Mexico is close to writing “hot checks.”
In the event that House and Senate leaders don’t reach a state budget, leaders have agreed that a big capital outlay bill currently in the House must pass before session’s end. That legislation is meant to sweep $130 million in state money from more than 1,500 brick-and-mortar projects around the state to help beef up the state’s nearly-depleted reserves, or rainy-day fund. Smith said he and Lujan agreed on the necessity of that bill passing Wednesday morning.
But that capital outlay bill is hung up in its own legislative drama. A House committee on Tuesday removed two Belen projects from a bulging capital outlay bill (SB182). Then the committee tabled the bill. The House committee’s action, while seemingly small, could have large repercussions.
Both projects were among several of the governor’s capital outlay priorities the Senate added before passing the capital outlay bill and sending it on to the House.
They also have been at the center of a tug-of-war between the Richardson administration and Sen. Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen.
Sanchez sponsored legislation this year to remove money from the Belen interchange. Meanwhile, Signet Solar has run into its own troubles; The $840 million solar manufacturer was unable to secure a loan guarantee for the first phase of its project, the Valencia County News Bulletin has reported.
The House action with the capital outlay bill potentially threatens budget talks because legislative leaders have linked the capital outlay bill with a state budget deal, although Sanchez said Wednesday the House Committee’s action wasn’t a deal breaker .
“We made a promise that we weren’t going to amend it,” Sanchez said, referring to his Senate colleagues. “I’m not going to put some personal things before this bill. This is the most critical bill other than the budget. That’s not the way I play the game.”
While the bill is one of the most important bills in the legislative session because it beefs up this year’s state reserves, it also is one of the hardest to pass through the Legislature.
That’s because many lawmakers view brick-and-mortar projects – like gyms, senior centers and – as tangible proof to their constituents that they’re working hard for them.
