The Roundhouse in Santa Fe (Photo by Peter St. Cyr)
Legislation heads back to the House for a vote on whether to concur with the changes
On a vote of 31-9, the Senate has approved a bill that would make deep cuts to state government.
“This is by far the hardest session I’ve ever been through,” Senate Majority Whip Mary Jane Garcia, D-Doña Ana, said just before the vote. “… I really encourage my colleagues to vote for this measure. It was the very best that we could do.”
The bill now heads to the House for a vote on whether to concur with several amendments, including one that would require staff to compile a list of capital outlay projects totaling at least $150 million that could be cut when the Legislature meets again in January.
House Bill 17 was approved by the House on a vote of 37-31 late Thursday. The bill makes deep cuts – 7.6 percent – to most state agencies, but smaller cuts to education, including trimming less than 1 percent from the budgets of K-12 school districts.
The House could vote to reject some or all of the Senate amendments and send the bill back to the Senate for concurrence. Or it could agree with the amendments and send the bill to the governor. If the chambers can’t come to an agreement, a conference committee will be formed to negotiate a final bill. Such a committee’s meeting would be open to the public.
The feed bill, which the Legislature approved earlier this week to fund the session, expires at midnight. If lawmakers don’t finish work before then they’ll have to approve another feed bill.
A prior version of this posting incorrectly said there was an amendment to cut capital outlay by an additional $150 million.