Thursday, March 07, 2019Decision Days: Dr. No Suits Up As Senate Prepares Burial For Some Key House Bills, Plus: A Loud Battle For UNM Soccer Ends With A Whimper
--The $12 minimum wage appears dead there, but a statewide increase to at least $9.20 from $7.50 appears in store. Not bad, but far from what the Guv and the House Dems pushed for.
--Despite a late inning effort to revive the constitutional amendment to use a portion of the nearly $18 billion Land Grant Permanent School Fund for early childhood programs, Senate Finance Committee Chairman John Arthur Smith has not changed his mind and is determined to stop it from being resurrected.
--The most important feature of the House tax package--the provision to restore the progressive tax structure by increasing taxes on the highest earners--is also foundering under Smith's watch. The flat tax that has folks making $30,000 a year paying the same tax rate as those making $300,000 could be here to stay. It appears all sides in Santa Fe are afraid of being called tax and spenders.
While there are lemons for the House and MLG in the Senate there are also some cherries; --The Energy Transition Act that would dramatically increase the amount of renewable energy the state's public utilities are required to use to generate electricity appears headed for her desk, despite being attacked as a bail out for PNM, the state’s largest electric utility. It passed the Senate 32 to 9 last night. However, if the measure is ultimately passed by both the House and Senate there could be legal challenges to the measure which was carried by ABQ Dem Sen. Jacob Candelaria. --A hefty increase in the budget for the state's public schools--on the order of $400 million--has been a done deal for sometime and that will likely be the major legislative achievement of the '19 session. The House, Senate and MLG are in agreement. There are hundreds of other bills on the line but those are the ones that would have the most lasting impact on the state. SOCCER KICKED After all the outcry did you see where the move to have UNM reinstate the men's soccer program died a quiet death at the recent UNM Regents committee meeting, and that it was one of MLG's new regent appointments who did the deed? Regent Rob Schwartz says the decision to kill soccer made by the UNM administration and prior Board of Regents should stand without interference from the current board.The decision is a setback for MLG and House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Patty Lundstrom. Both had argued for reinstatement. Hard to believe this one went away with only a whimper after the banging of the drum over it so loudly and for so long. But no one is saying UNM President Stokes, who has been unyielding in doing away with soccer and several other sports, won't suffer some long-term consequences for the action. STILL CATCHING UP  That increase in the public schools budget will be the biggest in years, but NM Voices for Children says we have a lot of catching up to do:New Mexico is one of several states that have failed to increase their total per-student funding compared to a decade ago, according to a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). While 26 states have made larger investments in their K-12 students since 2008, per-student funding in New Mexico remained 9 percent less in 2016 than in 2008, after adjusting for inflation. The report found that New Mexico ranks 33rd in per-pupil funding, after adjusting for the cost of living, poverty, and other factors among the 50 states. THE APS BLUES Voters were so upset with the ABQ Public Schools or so confused over the three questions on the ballot at last months election that they threw the baby out with the bath water. And it may be a while before the baby is back in the tub. The chances of having a redo on the one ballot question that did not raise taxes, a mill levy that would have raised $190 million over six years for school maintenance, do not look good for the intermediate term. We thought APS might be able to put the levy before voters again at the upcoming November city election, but. . . While the Board of Education hasn’t committed, the soonest APS can go back to voters is November. But the way election law is currently written makes it “technically impossible” because of the tight timeline to pass the mill levy and get it on the tax rolls by the end of the year, which the law requires, according to Capital Master Plan Executive Director Kizito Wijenje. The maintenance levy was voted down by 64% of the voters but if it were presented again with a clear campaign that it is a continuation of a current tax--not an increase--its odds of passage would seem pretty fair. That was not at all clear in the February election. Meanwhile, APS is in for some belt tightening. Proceeds from the mill levy run out at the end of June. THE BOTTOM LINES
Apologies to those who tuned in the radio program we promoted on the blog yesterday. There was a mistake in scheduling at the station so our gabfest with two leading conservatives was not to be. There was no conspiracy involved, at least we don’t think so.
Beth Waldrip of Roswell has today's final blog bottom lines: Joe, I thought you might be interested in the passing of a notable New Mexican, Col. Morgan Nelson (D) who served 12 years in the NM Legislature, starting in 1949. Morgan was an engineer, landman and perhaps held the greatest authority of water use and rights in SE NM. He was a founding patron of the NM Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum. His obituary is here. Nelson served as chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee in 1957. He was 99. Thanks for the news, Beth. This is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments. (jmonahan@ix.netcom.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here.   (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019 |
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