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.
The fourth try was the charm for the House Taxation and Revenue Committee.
That committee voted 10 to 6 along party lines Thursday evening to pass a bill Wednesday evening viewed as essential to state budget negotiations. The approval followed an all-day drama at the Capitol in which veteran observers handicapped whether the bill would pass or not.
SB 182 claws back money from more than 1,500 brick-and-mortar projects around the state. The more than $130 million clawed back will go toward beefing up the state’s nearly depleted reserves so New Mexico avoids going in the red this year.
Many lawmakers don’t like the bill, as evidenced by Wednesday’s meeting.
Republican Minority Whip Keith Gardner, R-Roswell, spoke out against the bill, as did Rep. Sandra Jeff, D-Crownpoint.
“We moved all the furniture. There are no more dimes and quarters,” Gardner said, blaming what he called the state’s spending spree over the past few years for the state’s anemic reserves.
Jeff, meanwhile, complained that several projects on tribal lands were moving until a letter went out last fall informing counties and other entities that Gov. Bill Richardson was placing a freeze on thousands of projects.
“The letter went out telling tribes and entities that there was a freeze. What am I going to do,” she asked her colleagues. “’I’m not going to do anything.’”
In the end Jeff voted for the bill while Gardner and the five GOP lawmakers on the committee opposed the bill.
The committee’s approval of the bill ended a 24-hour drama in the Taxation and Revenue Committee over this legislation.
Last night the committee stripped two projects from the bill, meaning those projects won’t see money clawed back. They were an I-25 interchange in north Belen and economic development money set aside for infrastructure for Signet Solar, also in Belen.
After the committee stripped those projects from the bill, the bill failed to pass and was tabled last night. An attempt was made to resurrect the bill last night but it was tabled again.
This morning the committee met again but failed again to approve the legislation, with an 8-8 vote tabling the legislation for a third time.
SB 182 is key to state budget talks between House and Senate Democratic leaders because it not only beefs up the reserves but also sets the foundation for next year’s state budget.
That budget has a projected shortfall of several hundred million dollars.
House and Senate Democratic leaders 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.
But they have agreed that the Legislature should pass the capital outlay bill before this year’s 30-day session ends at noon Thursday.
The capital outlay bill is meant to sweep $130 million in state money from more than 1,500 brick-and-mortar projects around the state.
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.
