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.
A bill to authorize $40 million for projects around the state cleared the House early Thursday morning. Lawmakers voted 37 to 31 to fund everything from a Hewlett Packard center in Rio Rancho to a technical support center at Mesa Del Sol in Albuquerque. The proposal now goes to the Senate.
The projects were in SB 112, which authorizes projects funded by severance tax bonds. The bonds are sold based on future tax proceeds based on the taking of minerals, such as natural gas, from New Mexico land.
The bill was amended Tuesday night in the House Taxation and Revenue Committee to add money to the Hewlett Packard and Mesa del Sol projects. Both are priorities for Gov. Bill Richardson.
The amendment increased to $2.5 million, up from $2 million, the amount earmarked for the Mesa del Sol technical support center, according to a legislative spreadsheet. It doubled to $6 million, up from $3 million, the money dedicated to the Hewlett Packard center.
Not everyone liked the bill.
“We’re going to de-authorize more than $100 million in projects. It’ll come up here pretty soon,” said House Minority Whip Keith Gardner, R-Roswell. Gardner was referring to a bill that claws back $130 million in state money from more than 1,500 projects around the state.
“And we’re authorizing $40 million in spending,” Gardner said.
The bill also puts in $3 million for the Santa Fe Indian School to complete construction of its wellness center.
Another $1 million would go to the Science Technology & Sculpture Foundry Complex. And $2.5 million would go toward completing construction of the Santa Teresa port of entry, near Sunland Park, New Mexico and El Paso, Texas.
