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.
New Mexico Democratic legislators are crying foul over a line-item veto by Gov. Susana Martinez that they say overstates her constitutional authority. A spokesman for Martinez says that her administration believes that it is legal.
Martinez used her veto power to strike one numeral from an appropriation made by the legislature — turning a $150,000 appropriation for oversight of New Mexico’s regional housing authorities into a $50,000 appropriation. Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez told the Albuquerque Journal that he does not believe the state constitution gives Martinez the right make such a change.
“Striking and changing a number, I don’t believe she has the authority to do that,” Sanchez said.
Martinez spokesman Scott Darnell says the administration researched the use of the line-item veto, “and we are confident that the governor has the authority to reduce spending through line-item veto.”
Another veto that’s drawing scrutiny is that of the state funding for the Commission on the Status of Women, also known as the Women’s Commission. A former commission head says that Martinez’s line-item veto of all state funding should not be allowed by law because the commission is in state statute.
“You have to take it out of state statute first,” Mary Molina Mescall told the Santa Fe New Mexican. “She tried that and she wasn’t successful.”
Martinez used her line-item veto power to strike the $450,000 in state funding for the commission that, among other things, conducts statewide studies on the status of women, provides financial training for women and provides job-skills training.
Darnell said, “Overall, the governor believes many of the duties of the commission are duplicative and supports reforms that will eliminate duplication through consolidation, while preserving necessary services and functions.”
