Issue Position: Budget

Issue Position

The budget is the primary focus of the legislature in this 30-day session (Article IV, Section 5, New Mexico Constitution). The governor may allow other subjects to be considered (Article IV, Section 5.B.2), but expect her to exercise this option sparingly, as the House and Senate will be convening for such a short period of time.
Good News: New Mexico has approximately $300 million dollars of extra revenue to work with in setting next year's budget, thanks in large part to higher revenues from oil & gas and mining activities. The overall state budget will be in the neighborhood of $6.1 billion dollars.

The following are my positions on issues likely to be debated during this session. These are general positions at this time, subject to change as bills are debated and amended and as the budget picture becomes more clear.

Budget, Appropriations, and Revenue Bills
As regards the 2014-15 state budget, I favor
Accomplishing "government" without raising your taxes
Keeping a budget reserve of at least 9.5% for emergencies
Increasing salaries for state employees and teachers by up to 3 percent
Providing additional compensation for police, protective services workers, and corrections officers to help retain and recruit these highly essential public-safety employees
Promoting economic growth through targeted investment of capital outlay money
Keeping "raiders" from weakening the state's Permanent Fund
Investing $100 million dollars over the next five years to fix dangerous roads/highways in areas of the state where oil & gas development has been occurring. This industry accounts for 30% of the state's economy, and the legislature needs to pay back--for reasons of public safety--a larger share of the revenues sent to Santa Fe.

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