[LWVNM Action] New Mexico governor outlines budget,special session – June 18, 2020

[Judy Williams]

Here's the link to the governor's press conference yesterday.  The session
is at  hour 1:08.  She says it's a in and out one-day session.  I don't
know how they'll do that, unless all the deals are made in advance, which
is what the advocacy groups think.  Judy

https://nmpoliticalreport.com/2020/05/20/watch-this-weeks-covid-19-press-conference-from-gov-lujan-grisham/

On Thu, May 21, 2020 at 8:37 AM Richard Mason <dickmasonnm at gmail.com> wrote:

> *New Mexico governor outlines budget, special session – June 18, 2020*
>
>    - By Jens Gould jgould at sfnewmexican.com May 20, 2020
>
> Top of Form
>
> Bottom of Form
>
> Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Wednesday a date for the upcoming
> special legislative session and said she believed the state could shore up
> a huge budget deficit without making big cuts to key areas.
>
> The session will begin June 18 and should conclude by that weekend, the
> governor said.
>
> “I’m feeling very optimistic about our ability to have great agreement,”
> Lujan Grisham said. “Bipartisan work is what we’re hoping for, of course,
> to make sure that we make the changes necessary to keep all of the wheels
> turning in state and local government.”
>
> New Mexico is looking at an estimated budget shortfall for next fiscal
> year of between $1.8 billion and $2.8 billion, the governor said — a higher
> upper range than state economists’ recent estimates.
>
> Additionally, revenue for the current fiscal period, which ends June 30,
> could be between $368 million and $483 million short of projections, state
> economists have said.
>
> State finances are suffering as the novel coronavirus pandemic and
> plummeting oil prices have taken a major toll on tax revenue and royalty
> payments.
>
> New Mexico should be able to use federal stimulus money and its own
> reserves to plug the majority of the shortfall for fiscal years 2020 and
> 2021, the governor said. That would allow officials to avoid making “deep
> cuts” in areas such as education, health care and public safety, she said.
>
> “We’re in a pretty good position where I don’t anticipate that we’re going
> to have to make deep cuts,” the governor said. “But we’re going to have to
> slow spending.”
>
> Lujan Grisham said she believed legislators could mend the budget without
> having to lay off or furlough state workers.
>
> She added that lawmakers would need to consider cutting capital outlay
> projects that were approved in the session earlier this year and weren’t
> part of a round of vetoes carried out by the governor in March.
>
> New Mexico is expecting to receive $1.25 billion from a huge federal
> stimulus bill passed by Congress in March. The state also plans to receive
> money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the governor said.
>
> Sen. John Arthur Smith, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said
> later Wednesday that he agreed legislators could mend the fiscal year 2021
> budget without making big cuts to essential services.
>
> “Quite frankly, we concur with that,” said Smith, D-Deming, when asked
> about the governor’s comments. “It shouldn’t be severe.”
>
> Smith said the state could run its reserves down to about 12 percent and
> still plug the budget hole, as long as it’s able to use federal stimulus
> money as well.
>
> The bigger problem, he said, might be how to fund the fiscal year 2022
> budget.
>
> “If this downturn lasts into ’22, then you’re in deep, deep trouble,” he
> said.
>
> In addition to reserves, the governor said the state could use money from
> “other permanent fund opportunities,” without specifying which funds she
> was referring to.
>
> Lujan Grisham said earlier this month she would support tapping New
> Mexico’s nearly $18 billion Land Grant Permanent Fund to help shore up the
> state budget. Yet key lawmakers such as Smith have said they would oppose
> such an effort.
>
>
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