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 state will receive $104 million in extra Medicaid dollars thanks to federal legislation projected to clear Congress in the next few days, New Mexico state officials said Wednesday.
The funding contained in the $26 billion federal legislation for New Mexico’s Medicaid program is $56 million below the $160 million the state had anticipated. That means the state budget gap New Mexico is struggling to address for the fiscal year that began July 1 will grow to about $220 million.
Despite not being the amount anticipated, the federal funding comes at an opportune time for New Mexico, which had been considering drastic cuts to Medicaid, the government’s low-income health insurance program, to help balance the state’s budget.
“This money is critical to help reduce drastic cuts to the Medicaid program,” Gov. Bill Richardson was quoted as saying in a news released issued by his office Wednesday. “I especially want to acknowledge Senator Bingaman’s key role in moving this funding forward. I’m hopeful for a positive vote by the full Senate and quick action by the House so we can protect Medicaid services in New Mexico.”
New Mexico over the past year has considered making deep cuts to Medicaid, which provides health insurance for more than 400,000 New Mexicans, as state revenues have failed to keep pace with expenditures during the economic downturn.
The New Mexico Legislature approved a state budget for the year that began July 1 assuming that Congress would approve $160 million for the state in additional Medicaid funding. The failure to get the entire $160 million means that New Mexico’s state budget gap for this fiscal year will grow to around $220 million after state officials last month projected that there already was a $160 million gap between expenditures and revenues.
