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 House approved a 75-cent hike to state’s cigarette tax Thursday, sending the last piece of a state budget package to Gov. Bill Richardson.
On Thursday afternoon, Senators voted 25 to 15 to pass a 75-cent hike to the state cigarette tax.
That levy will raise $33 million, with about $11 million of that revenue earmarked for pre-kindergarten programs administered by the state Public…
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…
About $11 million that the state could collect from a proposed a 75-cent increase to the state’s cigarette tax would be partly used to fund early childhood development under a proposal a powerful state Senate committee approved Thursday morning. But…
The New Mexico Independent live blogged the final day of the first special session of 2010 from gavel to gavel. Click the headline to read a transcript.
On Wednesday evening, as the House was debating a series of tax increases, five members were missing from the chamber–and not excused, leading to a call of the House. “I believe there was a plan to allow people to leave,” House Minority Whip Keith Gardner said.
It took a 30-day regular session and almost three days of a special session to hammer it out, but New Mexico finally has its budget for the 2011 fiscal year. After debating the measure for about two hours Wednesday night,…
A revenue package that is a cornerstone of a proposed 2011 New Mexico state budget passed the House Wednesday night by a vote of 38-28; it now goes to the governor’s desk. The measure raises about $240 million in taxes through various measures. But it also may create extra pain for some local governments.
Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, said Wednesday that the Senate omnibus tax bill, including a food tax, is so key to fixing the state’s budget that if fails to pass the House cleanly (without amendments), “Then it’s back to…
Some expected for the third day of the 2010 special session to be perhaps final day, and the Independent was there to live blog from the House and Senate floors as well as some committee hearings. The Senate passed the budget bill, the reason for the special session, without amendments; the bill will now be sent to the governor. After three hours of debate, the House passed an omnibus tax bill.
The $5.35 billion spending plan would trim spending by around $100 million with state agencies taking, on average, a 3 percent cut; K-12 public education, meanwhile, would endure a 1.2 percent cut.
Just after midnight, the House passed a bill that would add 75 cents to the cost of a pack of cigarettes—including smokes sold on tribal lands. The bill, which is estimated to bring in $33 million, has been called the cornerstone…
Late Tuesday the Senate passed a bill that would generate $240 million by increasing the state’s gross receipts tax by a 1/8 of a penny, closing a state income tax deduction used by people who itemize and requiring the state’s compensating tax to be paid on goods purchased from out-of-state sellers without a physical presence in New Mexico.
“One thing that is clear, its not gray its black and white, Jesus was with the poor, and this is an attack on the poor,” said Allen Sanchez of the New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops, moments after…
The numbers are big and the money bigger, but the bottom line is New Mexico could find $280 million to help fix its budget. Rep. Dennis Roch, R-Tucumcari will try to bring an amendment to the state budget bill that…
The Senate Finance committee approved a bill Tuesday that combines most of the tax measures state lawmakers have contemplated during this week’s special session — and some that they haven’t.
Lawmakers voted along party lines to pass the measure that…
A bill to boost the state’s cigarette tax by 75 cents cleared an important legislative committee Tuesday afternoon, after a bit of arm-twisting and some last-minute horse trading by two Democratic lawmakers. The sheer effort to push the bill out of the House Taxation and Revenue Committee gives one a sense of how difficult the New Mexico Legislature is finding it to pass out a state budget.
Think New Mexico delivered more than 500 letters opposing the food tax to Governor Richardson Tuesday morning.
During the legislative session the Roundhouse is generally packed; during the special session, not so much. The Independent roamed the halls around 10:30 am, here’s what we found.
The 2010 special session completed a second day and the Independent was there to live blog from the House and Senate floors until the very end of the House hearing in the early morning hours. Both the Senate and House took up significant bills and the Independent was there to cover the debate.
