State lawmakers assigned to a legislative/executive committee that’s working on a budget fix said in a news release that they appreciate the plan Gov. Bill Richardson presented earlier today, but they’re not in agreement on some points.
“We see this as a good first step and look forward to additional meetings to discuss how his plan could be improved,” Rep. Henry Kiki Saavedra, D-Albuquerque and chairman of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee, said in a news release.
Lawmakers and the governor must cut more than $400 million from the current fiscal year budget. Richardson plans to call a special session in October.
Richardson says his proposal avoids cutting education spending. In the legislative release, Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said he and other members of the legislative delegation “agreed that while it is desirable to minimize cuts in public schools’ budgets, the issue must remain open for discussion because public and higher education constitute about 60 percent of the state budget.”
“The remaining 40 percent of the state budget, which includes public safety and health-care programs, cannot realistically be expected to solely bear the burden of across-the-board budget cuts,” Smith said in the release.
Rep. Luciano “Lucky” Varela, D-Santa Fe, said in the release that members of the legislative delegation believe surplus funds in the state treasury and federal stimulus funds that are specifically designated to be spent at the governor’s discretion could be “more wisely used.”
“Members also believed the governor’s plan left too many difficult decisions for future budget years,” the release states. “Some members continued to express concern about what they believe is a slow economic recovery.”
“The spending cuts that the Legislature and governor must consider will have a real impact on the lives of New Mexicans, and we must approach this task realistically and purposefully,” Varela said.