{"id":1496,"date":"2007-03-30T12:18:00","date_gmt":"2007-03-30T18:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/03\/richardson-promotes-spaceport-tax-in-las-cruces-but-signs-of-nervousness-and-dissent-color-rally\/"},"modified":"2007-03-30T12:18:00","modified_gmt":"2007-03-30T18:18:00","slug":"richardson-promotes-spaceport-tax-in-las-cruces-but-signs-of-nervousness-and-dissent-color-rally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/03\/richardson-promotes-spaceport-tax-in-las-cruces-but-signs-of-nervousness-and-dissent-color-rally\/","title":{"rendered":"Richardson promotes spaceport tax in Las Cruces, but signs of nervousness and dissent color rally"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a> made one last stop in Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> on Thursday to push for approval of a 1\/4 percent gross receipts tax increase to help fund Spaceport America<\/a>. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

He was joined by a bipartisan group of local public officials at the rally, held at his office in Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>. Not all of them expressed support for the tax increase, however.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cYou can vote for a new industry \u2013 5,000 new jobs \u2013 or you can vote for the status quo,\u201d Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said. \u201c\u2026 This is a vote for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The election is Tuesday on whether to raise the tax in Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place>. It would provide about $49 million for construction of the facility.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Las Cruces Mayor Bill Mattiace<\/a> joined Richard<\/st1:city><\/st1:place>son<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> in urging approval of the tax increase.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cWe all need to vote \u2018yes,\u2019 to think of our children\u2019s future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Do\u00f1a Ana County Commissioner Kent Evans<\/a> called a \u201cyes\u201d vote \u201ca no-brainer.\u201d Commissioner Bill McCamley<\/a> said the vote \u201cis the simplest vote you will ever take in your entire life.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a vote of stagnation, which is \u2018no,\u2019 or progress, which is \u2018yes,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

State Rep. Joni Gutierrez<\/a>, D-Las Cruces, wore a sticker on her shirt calling for approval of the tax and spoke about the spaceport with enthusiasm.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m anxious to see this to fruition,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Worry behind the smiles<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

But the smiles of dozens of public officials and others who attended the rally couldn\u2019t hide the fact that many supporters are worried about Tuesday\u2019s election. The tax represents about 25 percent of the funding for the spaceport, and the project is in serious jeopardy if it isn\u2019t approved.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Officials expect the vote to be very close \u2013 perhaps as close as the 2003 special election in which voters approved, by 195 votes statewide, a proposal to allow the state to spend more money on education from the permanent fund.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The rally capped off two weeks of announcements designed to fill the media with positive headlines about the spaceport, and, not surprisingly, it was a rally of spin. During his speech, Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> embellished the facts a bit \u2013 a sure sign a politician is worried he might lose a battle.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In saying that local voters need to pitch in \u201ca little help\u201d for the state project, he said the state has provided $140 million.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

That\u2019s not an accurate number. At time of Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s speech, the state had agreed to fund $114.5 million, which was approved in the 2006 legislative session. Later Thursday, the Senate approved another $10 million that still has to be approved by the House.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

On top of that $10 million, Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> wants another $15 million, but there\u2019s no certainty he\u2019ll get it. Lawmakers from around the state have fought hard against giving additional money to the spaceport this year.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

A bill signing, or a rally?<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Richardson<\/st1:city><\/st1:place>\u2019s administration also fudged a bit on the details of the rally, most likely in an effort to draw lawmakers to it. Many lawmakers are cool to the project and the tax proposal.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s office originally called local lawmakers to ask them to attend what would be a bill signing, but didn\u2019t mention the spaceport rally. Later, his office put out a news release announcing the event as a rally for the tax and a bill-signing ceremony.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I called to ask for the bill numbers, but his office refused to release them. Lawmakers didn\u2019t know either, but some didn\u2019t want to chance missing the signing of their own legislation.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Senators were meeting in Santa Fe<\/st1:city> and couldn\u2019t attend, but Gutierrez, a strong supporter of the spaceport tax, arrived early and stood next to Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Reps. Mary Helen Garcia<\/a> and Joseph Cervantes<\/a>, D-Las Cruces, arrived late and stood near the back of the crowd, but, as Richardson prepared to sign bills before the rally for the tax started, he asked them to come forward.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI came because I was told you were signing all my bills, governor,\u201d Cervantes said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It turned out none of the five bills Richardson<\/st1:city> signed were sponsored by lawmakers from Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place>. No other legislators attended the event.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Garcia stood between Richardson and Gutierrez during the rally, but Cervantes stood off to the side of the group of elected officials. Though both clapped when speakers were introduced, neither clapped when speakers, including Richardson<\/st1:city><\/st1:place>, promoted the spaceport tax.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Their lack of enthusiasm was especially apparent when others at the rally cheered loudly in response to Las Cruces Mayor Pro-Tem Dolores Connor<\/a> saying she believed \u201ceveryone in this room is a \u2018yes\u2019 vote for the spaceport.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

New Mexico Economic Development Secretary Rick Homans<\/a> asked Garcia to speak. She appeared surprised, then said a few words, but didn\u2019t endorse the tax. She said she wanted to work harder on getting people out to vote, but had to spend time in Santa Fe<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> because of the special session.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully, we will be able to get this vote out,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Homans gestured to Cervantes to speak. He refused.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

After the rally, I asked both if they oppose the tax. Neither would comment on that.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI came because I was told to come for a bill signing, and the governor signed some bills we worked very hard at,\u201d Cervantes said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gov. Bill Richardson made one last stop in Las Cruces on Thursday to push for approval of a 1\/4 percent gross receipts tax increase to help fund Spaceport America. He was joined by a bipartisan group of local public officials at the rally, held at his office in Las Cruces. Not all of them expressed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1496\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}