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| Rep. Lundstrom |
This week we ran into State Rep. Patty Lundstrom, chairwoman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, and she told us that the over $500 million in "new money" already forecast to be available for the budget year that begins July 1, 2019 will likely go even higher when the final forecast comes in. The state budget is about $6.2 billion so that gives you an idea how huge a jump in revenue this is.
Just about all of the increase is due to the oil drilling in the Permian Basin in SE NM that is inflating state coffers like nothing we've seen since before the Great Recession took hold here ten years ago.
Lundstrom of Gallup cautions that there is much demand to "backfill" budgets that have been depleted by all the recent bad budget years. So, she says, the Santa Fe punch bowl, while filled to the brim, is not as big as it may seem. Still, for the next Governor who takes office January 1, that extra cash is a whole lot of breathing room.
HERRELL'S ANSWER
Southern GOP congressional nominee Yvette Herrell has an answer for that dissing she was given by Gov. Martinez, who said she would support the nominee, but added this eyebrow raiser:
I think there are some questions with reference to her ability to … represent New Mexico in a fair and reasonable way.
Herrell's answer is from none other than Lt. Governor John Sanchez, who has been in Martinez's doghouse going on eight years. He says:
Yvette has always proven herself to be a person of great integrity and will carry New Mexico's voice to Washington. . . She is the only candidate who shares our values and understands NM's issues.
Hey, when John Sanchez starts boxing your ears after eight years of hiding under his desk from your political machine, you know you're a lame duck.
READER VOX POPULI
Our Tuesday column dealing with the ABQ City Council unanimously overriding mayor Keller's veto of incentives for the $39 million Topgolf project drew considerable reaction, and not a small amount supported Keller. And that's our cue for this mini edition of Reader Vox Populi. Art Tannenbaum kicks it off:Joe, Your report regarding the city council's antics and the fundamental and deep seated problems facing Albuquerque is spot on. What I disagree with is Steve Cabiedes's notion of Mayor Keller having supposedly wasting political capital with the Topgolf nonsense.
I believe it's for the best that Mr. Keller has put on public display the City Councilors and their petty power lust. While the Mayor works towards necessary improvements in order to change things, the councilors foolishly attempt to protect the status quo. While the Mayor can admit that mistakes may have been made and then work to correct them, the Council will insist on a burying-the-head-in-the sand approach that never admits mistakes. City Council members would be well advised at this point: when you've got your head buried in the sand all people can see is a big ass.
Margaret (Peg) Galbraith writes:
Hi Joe, Love the blog — you are the “go to” source for all things political in NM, for sure! However, I have to take issue with a couple of things in Tuesday's installment. First, as someone whose letter in response to Pete Dinelli’s “report card” on Mayor Keller got published in the Journal. . . I wanted to be sure you knew that I was in no way asked, coerced, or otherwise encouraged to write that letter.
The second point is regarding the rift between Mayor Keller and the ABQ City Council over the swag bag of incentives that Council is dangling in front of Topgolf. An important aspect of Mayor Keller’s economic plan is to provide home-grown businesses the same kinds of incentives that the big guys from out-of-town get. “Political newbie?” Nope. Just a Mayor who realizes that he has promises to deliver to the city, not the City Council.
VOX POPULI MARCHES ON
Reader Suzanne Shannon comments:
Maybe TopGolf is the best Albuquerque can do right now in terms of bringing jobs to the city as you say, but what happens when Topgolf realizes that entertainment costs money, and there is little disposable income in Albuquerque to pay for what Topgolf has to offer? I think Tim Keller was 100% correct in rejecting their bid for city money. Topgolf may come in and build another useless structure, employ low-wage workers for a year or two, and then bail when their profits go south, taking another huge chunk of resources with them. Albuquerque city councilors are short-sighted not to see that. Tim Keller is rock solid in his leadership, while they are simply expedient, no-vision politicians.
Keith Miller writes:
It's interesting that Mayor Keller does the right thing and this same group of wind votes him down. This is the same City Council, predominantly, that voted to give away someone else’s (our) money on the ART project.
Reader Tim Kraft writes from Las Cruces:
Your column regarding the incentives for Topgolf--“the best we can do”--is, unfortunately, right on the money.
Jeffrey Baker writes:
What’s the deal with Councilor Don Harris? First he voted with everyone else on the City Council to override the Mayor’s veto of the Council’s resolution supporting Topgolf, and then he voted against giving Topgolf the incentives it wanted. Does he think the first vote helps him with his fellow Councilors by poking the Mayor in the eye (“Hey Tim, we run this town,”) and the second vote (“I don’t support taxpayer giveaways”) lets him hope voters forget his fingerprints are all over ART?
YOUR CHANCE TO WIN
We said we would give you another chance to win two tickets valued at $170 to the Vintage ABQ Grand Tasting this Friday at the Balloon Museum. And here it is. Answer this trio of questions correctly and your name goes into our Sinatra cap for the grand drawing for the Grand Tasting, just one of the Vintage events this week that will benefit education programs and more.1.Who was the first female justice to serve on the NM Supreme Court;
2. Who was the first female to serve in New Mexico's Congressional delegation as a US
Senator or member of the US House of Representatives?
3. What NM US Senator was the lead sponsor in the US Senate of the bill that created Medicare?
Try to get your guesses in before Sinatra Martini time which begins at 6 p.m. Good luck!
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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2018