A compromise budget deal heads to back to the NM House of Reps

By Rob Nikolewski │ New Mexico Watchdog

SANTA FE  – With just a day and a half left in the 30-day session, a compromise budget bill is heading back to the New Mexico House of Representatives.

On Tuesday evening, Senate Bill 313 passed the Senate floor on a 42-0 vote. The $6.2 billion budget legislation now moves over to the House of Representatives, where it will land in the House Appropriations and Finance Committee and be compared to the appropriations bills that stalled in the House a less than a week ago.

“I was surprised to get a 42-0 vote,” Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, the sponsor of the bill told New Mexico Watchdog. “That’s pretty overwhelming whether you talk about the (Republican) side or the (Democratic) side. Usually the law of averages on these things tells you you’ll lose six or seven.”

The deal is reported to include 3 percent pay raises across the board for state employees, including public school teachers.

The trick for the Legislature is to craft a bill that will avoid a veto from Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, who wants to include money for education reform efforts.

The Martinez administration wants to make sure the Public Education Department has oversight (what’s called “below the line” funding) while Democrats what to have local school boards to have control (“above the line” funding).

The budget has “a pretty good head of steam,” Smith said. “It has some of what she wants and, of course, she has the right to line-item veto … I had meetings on the fourth floor (where the governor’s office is located) and they weren’t antagonistic. I take that as a good sign.”

“We’re still looking at things,” Martinez chief of staff Keith Gardner told New Mexico Watchdog before the Senate vote on Tuesday. The Martinez administration expressed concern over the weekend about overall spending dipping too deeply into the state’s cash reserves.

The Senate bill sets aside $17.5 million in educational programs pushed by Martinez — such as merit pay for teachers — but there’s been debate over about the language. Senate Democrats said Sunday that $7.3 million in funding for programs the governor wants have no dollar amounts specifically allocated.

“There’s some language there that is broad-based,” Smith said, “which opponents say can prevent (the reforms) and supporters can say it does allow.”

But will that lead to a collapse before the session ends at noon on Thursday?

“It is a $2.74 billion education budget and there’s more than $7.2 million to that category (education reforms backed by Martinez),” Smith said. ”The question is, how much do we want to go to war over that?”

If a budget deal isn’t reached by the end of the session or if Martinez vetoes the entire package, the Legislature is looking at returning to the Roundhouse for a special session.

According to a news release from Senate Democrats, items in the budget include:

*$28 million for early childhood initiatives

*$11.5 million to shore up the ailing New Mexico Lottery Scholarship program

*$2.7 million for a tourism department marketing program

*$1.5 million for job training and recruitment

*$5.9 million for expanding nursing education, and $9 million for county Medicaid programs.

Overall funding for education increased 6.6 percent for public schools and 5.8 percent for higher education and leaves a reserve in the general fund of more than 8 percent.

Contact Rob Nikolewski at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @robnikolewski