The Roundhouse in Santa Fe (Photo by cjc4454/flickr.com)
‘We believe we have little choice,’ Rep. Luciano ‘Lucky’ Varela says
A group of lawmakers shared a proposal with Gov. Bill Richardson today that includes bigger budget cuts than the governor has proposed and a reduction in education spending that he doesn’t want.
Though the current fiscal-year budget shortfall is presently projected to be $433 million, a news release from the lawmakers said the gap could grow to $550 million “because corporate income and personal income tax collections as well as gross receipts tax collections continue to be lower than estimated earlier this year.”
“As the branch of government with the responsibility to appropriate funds, the Legislature must take a responsible and even more painful position on this budget crisis,” Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming and chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said in the release.
The Albuquerque Journal reported earlier today that lawmakers and members of the governor’s staff were going to talk about a proposal from lawmakers that would include cutting public-school funding by $77 million. That would be part of a 3.5 percent, across-the-board cut for all state agencies and public schools.
By contrast, the governor’s proposal to fix the budget crisis includes smaller cuts of 3 percent for state agencies and no cuts for public schools. But making “less drastic spending cuts now,” the news release from the lawmakers states, “will simply delay the inevitable and would make it more difficult for agencies to absorb subsequent budget cuts because less time remains in the fiscal year.”
“We can hope for the best, but we absolutely must, as fiscal stewards of the state, prepare for the worst,” said Rep. Luciano “Lucky” Varela, D-Santa Fe and chair of the Legislative Finance Committee. “We recognize that many of the proposed cuts will make a number of people unhappy, but we believe we have little choice.”
It’s about the future
The scenario discussed today, according to the news release, “included cutting state agency and public school spending, using federal stimulus funds, switching some capital outlay funding from the general fund to severance tax bond proceeds, canceling some unused capital outlay projects and transferring some money from various state funds to the general fund.”
Rep. Don Bratton, R-Hobbs, said in the release that the proposal is about the future.
“The legislative session that begins in January will be the last regular session for this governor, but the vast majority of legislators will still be here working to balance the budget in years to come,” he said. “We’ll be working to make sure that our public schools, public safety and other vital programs remain in operation, regardless of the state of the economy.”
The governor’s office did not put out a statement following today’s meeting.
Lawmakers said they’re meeting again with the governor’s staffers on Oct. 5.