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.
Yesterday we were unable to reach all of the House members who were missing from the debate and vote on a measure that raises about $240 million through various taxes and revenue-generating mechanisms. But we’ve since talked to them and this is what we’ve found.
Two of three Democratic lawmakers excused from the debate and vote –Rep. Nate Cote and Sandra Jeff — said Thursday that they were sick on Wednesday. The third, Democrat Antonio “Moe” Maestas, said he had professional obligations he couldn’t ignore.
All three said unequivocally that they did not duck out to avoid the controversial vote, which is called “taking a walk” in legislative lingo.
Each also said they would have voted against the measure, which passed a vote of 38-28. Their opposition would not have changed the outcome.
Jeff had a painful case of Strep throat, she told The Independent.
“I had asked the Speaker if he could excuse me because I had Strep throat and it got into my ears,” Jeff said. “So I ended up with an ear infection. I hadn’t even been to a hospital since I got sick, which was three days ago.”
Jeff received a shot at the doctor’s office yesterday afternoon, she said.
“I started getting dizzy … . My fever wasn’t going down,” the representative said. “The pain was overwhelming.”
Cote, meanwhile, e-mailed The Independent, telling us that he also was sick.
“I took some prescript meds just before going into caucus for a current health issue, but my exhaustion from the late night session combined with the meds and my current health issue and lack of sleep put me down,” Cote wrote. “I had to find a friend’s couch and struggle through it; hence I asked to be excused.”
Cote wrote that he seldom misses a vote, “at the same time I see representatives either get out of their chairs and/or head for the door all the time to avoid being on record.”
“I would have liked to have recorded my no vote on this bill,” Cote added.
Maestas, an attorney, said he had to miss yesterday’s debate and vote to meet clients yesterday.
“I’ve never taken a walk in the four years that I’ve been here. I’m upset that I wasn’t here, but I had to deal with some emergencies my clients were going through,” Maestas said. “I’ve been out of my office six of the past seven weeks. It’s going to be a struggle to re-build my practice.”
Maestas, like Cote, said he would have voted against the measure because of the food tax.
That mechanism, which was in the omnibus tax bill, reapplies local and county taxes on food, which average about 2 percent across the state, while clawing back annual payments the state makes to local governments. Those payments are made to compensate for the annual loss of revenue caused by the repeal of the food tax in 2005.
That particular mechanism will create extra pain for some local governments. For example, Albuquerque could lose approximately $1.6 million in the budget year that starts July 1st and $3.2 million in the following year, state officials told the Independent. Albuquerque is experiencing a budget shortfall this year, and expects a bigger shortfall next year.
