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.
Democrat Diane Denish and Republican Susana Martinez promise not to cut spending on education at the same time they will not raise your taxes if elected governor. But the economic realities that will confront the winner of the governor’s race…
Attorney General Gary King would get extra muscle to go after taxpayer money lost to fraud under a state budget the Legislature passed last week. The budget earmarks $150,000 for King to hire a full-time attorney to focus on court complaints filed by citizens who believe that the state has been defrauded, resulting in the loss of taxpayer money. A full-time attorney dedicated to so-called qui tam lawsuits could represent a financial boon to the state.
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.
A proposed state budget currently before state lawmakers would grant Gov. Bill Richardson a power the New Mexico Legislature has zealously guarded in the past: the power to cut monthly allotments to state agencies. The last time a governor tried to unilaterally fiddle with the monthly general fund allotments, the Legislature sued. And won.
Just after five on Friday afternoon, legislative leaders met with Gov. Bill Richardson to discuss a budget proposal put together by the leadership. Emerging from the meeting, House Speaker Ben Lujan told the Independent he hopes the governor responds to…
