furloughs

Political scandals, former elected officials getting indicted, electoral surprises and an occasional David toppling a Goliath–2009 had it all.

District Court workers employed in Bernalillo County’s 2nd Judicial District learned today that they will be forced to take unpaid time off to make up for budget shortfalls — despite a late infusion of cash from the New Mexico Board of Finance, which approved a $68,487.55 emergency loan for the district on Wednesday. The 306 [...]

Because they’re part of the executive branch, and therefore subject to Gov. Richardson’s furloughs, public defenders are forced to take five days off without pay, as police continue to make arrests and prosecutors continue to work on cases.

Gov. Bill Richardson recently ordered five furlough days for state workers and said he wants to eliminate more than 1,000 vacant positions across state government as a response to New Mexico’s worsening financial situation. But next year’s budget likely will be worse than this year’s. Stateline.org reports that many states are moving from furloughs of [...]

Governor Bill Richardson took to his official blog to unveil a draft plan to implement the five days of furloughs he announced last week.

Gov. Bill Richardson on Thursday said he would order nearly 20,000 state workers to take five furlough days. He also pledged to axe 1,000 vacant state jobs and make cuts at the agencies under his control. But state lawmakers said he could have averted some of the pain by taking action earlier this year.

By now you know — or you should — that New Mexico has a big, fat budget hole.
Economists and other state officials estimate that weak tax revenue has left the state $440 million or so short of what it needs to cover expenses for the year that ends June 30. Gov. Bill Richardson and state [...]

State Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, offered KUNM a glimpse into the state’s financial future last week. It’s not particularly pretty.