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.
Just before the stroke of midnight on Wednesday, House Republicans tried to bring a dead veto override to life. Just as the House was getting ready to adjourn and discuss budget issues in committees, Rep. Paul Bandy, R-Aztec tried to ‘blast’ SB 531 to the full House for a vote.
The 2009 bill created a mechanism by which state agencies are required to share confidential data with the Legislative Finance Committee, the Legislature’s budget arm. Last month, The Independent revealed, in an exclusive story, that an Attorney General’s report shows the state had hindered Medicaid fraud investigations.
The bill was passed by both houses in 2009, but was vetoed by the Governor. The Senate passed the bill this year with the required 2/3′s to override that veto. But the bills course in the House has been mired with delays and controversy.
Shortly after Rep. Bandy effort to revive the bill, House Minority Leader W. Ken Martinez, D-Grants, brought a motion to table, or kill SB 531. That motion passed the House on a 37-29 vote. In 2009 the bill passed the House unanimously.
Veto overrides are uncommon; According to the Legislative Council Service, the Senate’s override vote was the first time that body had ever voted to override Richardson on legislation. The House of Representatives did it once, in 2004.
