The House has approved a budget that would increase spending next year by nearly 11 percent, the Associated Press is reporting.
Critics of the 259-page document, which you can read by clicking here, argue that the state’s budget has grown too rapidly in recent years, which will lead to funding cuts or tax increases in future years that aren’t so prosperous.
The $5.6-billion budget was approved on a 48-20 vote, and increases spending by $540 million, or 10.6 percent, the news service reported. The budget now heads to the Senate, and will likely increase as senators add money for additional programs.
After the Senate publicly approves the budget, a committee made up of three representatives and three senators will meet in secret to work out the differences between the two budgets.
Republican House members criticized the proposal during today’s debate, warning that the budget is at an unsustainable level. Spending over the last decade has increased by more than 5 percent annually, the news service reported, coinciding with record levels of royalties from oil and natural gas production.
“We’re looking square in the face of a tax increase in the next couple of years,” the news service quoted Rep. Justine Fox-Young, R-Albuquerque, as saying.
Rep. Henry Kiki Saavedra, D-Albuquerque and chair of the committee that condensed several bills into the budget proposal, acknowledged a possible, future budget crunch.
“I’m just as scared as you are,” the news service quoted him as saying.
Saavedra added that the Legislature would have to look carefully for programs that aren’t working and could be cut.
“We’re going to have to forget about re-election and we’re going to have to make some decisions on how to cut some of this spending,” the news service quoted him as saying. “We’re going to have to bite the bullet along the way because the out years are coming.”
The bill provides for a 5 percent raise for teachers and other public school workers, and for faculty and staff at state colleges and universities. State classified employees would get an average raise of 5 percent under the budget, with some getting as much as 10 percent.
It also appropriates $10 million for pre-kindergarten programs. Gov. Bill Richardson wants $18 million, and that and other provisions have him unhappy with the House budget.
The budget also includes a 13 percent, $82-million increase in funding for Medicaid.