Budget

If Gov. Bill Richardson vetoes the food tax, Sen. President Pro Tem Tim Jennings, D-Roswell says he should make up the $68 million dollar budget difference by cutting tax incentives for the film industry.

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.

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.

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.

We’re podcasting! The Independent’s Gwyneth Doland, Trip Jennings and Matthew Reichbach recapped the first day of the 2010 special legislative session in a special audio format. The budget! The defeat of the cigarette tax! It’s all in there!
Right click and select save as to download the mp3.

The Independent has obtained the full text of House Bill 2, the budget for fiscal year 2011. The Legislature was not able to come to an agreement on a budget bill and so Governor Bill Richardson called the legislators back to the Roundhouse for a special session.
Below is the full PDF file of HB 2, [...]

There are a lot of closed doors at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe, and presumably behind some of them leaders are talking about how to solve the states budget crisis. Among them are House Republican leaders, who say they are on the outside looking in, just like the public.
“Apparently since we’re not going to support [...]

At the request of legislative leaders, Gov. Richardson on Tuesday postponed the special legislative session by five days. Why do lawmakers want to craft a budget deal before they deliberate in public?

A majority of states–New Mexico included–are tapping into rainy-day funds to get through this year, reports Stateline.org.
Last week the New Mexico Legislature failed to craft a budget for next year because of disagreements between legislative leaders. But the Legislature did approve what Democratic legislative leaders called an “essential bill” to shore up this year’s budget.

“I’m very disappointed they failed to reach an agreement,” Gov. Bill Richardson said half an hour after the end of the session. “They were very close. It was nip and tuck.”

At the end of the 2010 session there was little that would make anyone happy. But the failure to pass a budget and an impending special session left House Republicans particularly frustrated. “I feel like we ended in disaster,” said Rep. Keith Gardner, R-Roswell, “I mean we didn’t even get a chance to vote one [...]

Legislative leaders are running out of time to finalize a state budget package, but a deal must come together by tonight in order to clear the logistical hurdles of passage. If no deal is made, leaders agree they must claw back capital $130 million in outlay funds to make sure the state doesn’t start bouncing checks.

Senate Minority Leader Stuart Ingle said Tuesday  that he believes that the State Legislature can pass a budget before the end of the session on Thursday at noon. Gov. Bill Richardson said earlier in the day that he would call a special session next week if no budget deal is passed.

Rep. Henry “Kiki” Saavedra, D-Albuquerque told the Independent Monday that he will raise the issue  of trying to get enough money for the 2010 elections when the House and Senate meet to hammer out a budget deal.