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.
Governor-elect Susana Martinez indicated that she may not keep key campaign promises to not cut education or Medicaid to balance the state’s budget. Martinez’s transition team told NMPolitics.net that cuts in the two areas are “certainly a possibility.”
Martinez has also pledged to not raise taxes in her first year as governor.
Martinez has used accusations that Gov. Bill Richardson’s team hid the real size of the budget until after the campaign as cover for potentially breaking her promises made throughout the campaign, prompting a response from Richardson’s office saying that Martinez was mistaken. The Independent reported at the time:
“The revelation of a near half-billion dollar deficit is far worse than expected and confirms our suspicions that the Richardson/Denish administration has been hiding the ball all along with respect to the true budget deficit,” Martinez said in a statement issued Thursday afternoon. “This clearly has very serious implications for all New Mexicans. I will work with the legislature to make the tough decisions necessary to balance the budget by getting spending under control.”
Martinez’s accusatory tone, in turn, provoked a sharp reaction from the Richardson administration, which released its own statement a little more than an hour following Martinez’s.
“It’s not surprising that Susana Martinez doesn’t understand the state budget and the growth of Medicaid since she ignored it during the campaign and has not yet accepted our offer for a thorough briefing,” Richardson’s deputy chief of staff, Gilbert Gallegos, said in a statement. ”She can’t keep her unrealistic promises and still balance the budget.”
The projection is for the fiscal year which runs from July 2011 to June 2012.
