{"id":3593,"date":"2008-08-18T16:49:00","date_gmt":"2008-08-18T22:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/08\/senate-approves-scaled-back-tax-health-care-bills\/"},"modified":"2008-08-18T16:49:00","modified_gmt":"2008-08-18T22:49:00","slug":"senate-approves-scaled-back-tax-health-care-bills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/08\/senate-approves-scaled-back-tax-health-care-bills\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate approves scaled-back tax, health-care bills"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_IabUCQmoheQ\/SKn8wdcSrBI\/AAAAAAAAGgc\/IRFZhxXuTrw\/s1600-h\/Special+session.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;\" src=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_IabUCQmoheQ\/SKn8wdcSrBI\/AAAAAAAAGgc\/IRFZhxXuTrw\/s200\/Special+session.jpg\" alt=\"\" id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235993951262125074\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a>The state Senate today approved smaller tax rebates than those proposed by Gov. <a href=\"http:\/\/governor.state.nm.us\/\" target=\"_blank\">Bill Richardson<\/a> and a scaled back health-care bill, again rejecting the governor\u2019s plan.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p> <\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">On a vote of 36-2, the Senate approved <a href=\"http:\/\/legis.state.nm.us\/lcs\/_session.asp?chamber=S&amp;type=++&amp;number=24&amp;Submit=Search&amp;year=08s\" target=\"_blank\">a bill<\/a> that would give more than 700,000 taxpayers rebates. Each person making $30,000 per year would receive $50 under the bill approved by the Senate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p> <\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u201cThis funding provides New Mexico\u2019s single mothers, senior citizens and people having trouble making ends meet some relief,\u201d Sen. <a href=\"http:\/\/legis.state.nm.us\/lcs\/legdetails.asp?Name=285&amp;Submit=Search\" target=\"_blank\">Bernadette Sanchez<\/a>, D-Albuquerque and the bill\u2019s sponsor, said in a news release. \u201cHigher prices at the gasoline pump and higher food costs at the grocery store are placing a tremendous burden our single-parent and working-parent families. This funding will help our most vulnerable families living from paycheck to paycheck.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p> <\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">The bill would provide $56 million in rebates instead of the $120 million sought by the governor. It now heads to the House for consideration. <\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p> <\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">The Senate also approved, on a vote of 38-1, a $32.5 million proposal to get more children on Medicaid. <st1:city st=\"on\"><st1:place st=\"on\">Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> had proposed a $58 million plan to require parents to ensure all children had health insurance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p> <\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">The <a href=\"http:\/\/legis.state.nm.us\/lcs\/_session.asp?w=com&amp;year=08s&amp;chamber=S&amp;type=++&amp;number=22\" target=\"_blank\">substitute bill<\/a> that passed the Senate provides $20 million to enroll children in Medicaid or other government insurance programs, $10 million to cover people enrolled in or eligible for the developmental disabilities waiver and $2.5 million for behavioral-health services provided through government insurance programs. The bill was sponsored by Majority Whip <a href=\"http:\/\/legis.state.nm.us\/lcs\/legdetails.asp?Name=261\" target=\"_blank\">Mary Jane Garcia<\/a>, D-Do\u00f1a Ana.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p> <\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">The Senate-approved version doesn\u2019t include <st1:city st=\"on\"><st1:place st=\"on\">Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s proposals to require reforms to reduce administrative costs in the insurance industry and to mandate that parents ensure that their children have health insurance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p> <\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u201cThe $32.5 million will expand Medicaid for an additional 19,000 children through age 18.<span style=\"\">  <\/span>It will also provide additional behavioral health services to <st1:state st=\"on\"><st1:place st=\"on\">New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> children, and it will provide 400-450 individuals with services through the DD waiver program,\u201d Garcia said in a release. \u201cI have to applaud the governor for his leadership on this measure and for making <st1:state st=\"on\"><st1:place st=\"on\">New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> kids a top priority.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p> <\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">The House and Senate are still working. They\u2019ve approved competing versions of an electronic medical records bill. Both have approved supplemental funding for the general election, and the Senate has also approved $5 million in emergency funding to repair roads and bridges in Lincoln and Otero counties damaged by recent flooding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The state Senate today approved smaller tax rebates than those proposed by Gov. Bill Richardson and a scaled back health-care bill, again rejecting the governor\u2019s plan. On a vote of 36-2, the Senate approved a bill that would give more than 700,000 taxpayers rebates. Each person making $30,000 per year would receive $50 under the [&hellip;]<\/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-3593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3593","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=3593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3593\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}