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Governor axes more than 20 capital projects in Santa Fe

The new district courthouse currently under construction, a planned botanical garden on Museum Hill, the Santa Fe Farmers Market, La Familia Medical Center, Women's Health Services, El Museo Cultural and Santa Fe Public Schools were among the local entities hit Wednesday by Gov. Susana Martinez's vetoes. Martinez cut almo ...

Other bills waiting for governor's final say

Gov. Susana Martinez signed five bills into law Friday while vetoing two others. Amid the flurry of action, the first-term Republican governor also gave hints about the fate of other legislation. While not signed into law Friday, Senate Bill 10, sponsored by Sen. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, appears poised to win Martinez's ...

Gov. Martinez signs state budget, vetoes $2M

Republican Gov. Susana Martinez agreed Friday with most of the budget handiwork of the Democratic-controlled Legislature, signing a $5.6 billion spending blueprint that will boost the take-home pay for educators and state workers. Although signing the measure into law, the governor trimmed about $2 million of general state ...

Gov. Martinez signs business tax cuts

Gov. Susana Martinez has signed legislation into law to reduce taxes on the construction and manufacturing industries. The governor and her supporters say the tax cuts will lower costs for businesses and encourage companies to hire workers. The legislation will remove the gross receipts tax from certain transactions inv ...

Once again, lawmakers say no to revamping 'tax lightning' law

Once again, a "tax lightning" bill failed to clear the state Legislature. "Tax lightning" refers to a major increase in a homeowner's assessed property value, immediately after the home is bought, to reflect the current market rate. Until a home changes hands, state law prevents the county assessor from increasing its tax ...

NM Legislature finishes politically heated session

Lawmakers finished an election-year legislative session on Thursday that was dominated by a clash of political wills between Republican Gov. Susana Martinez and Democrats controlling the Legislature.  Key parts of the first-term governor's legislative agenda died upon adjournment, including educational initiatives and ...

Legislative scorecard: What passed, what failed

Here's a quick look at bills that passed during the 2012 session of the New Mexico Legislature, and what failed to get through before time ran out on Thursday: PASSED TAXES Senate Bill 9: Sponsored by Sen. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe; would require out-of-state big-box retailers with stores 30,000 square feet or larger ...

End of an 'old guard' era: As Luján gavels last session, Santa Fe area loses powerful advocate

Inside House Speaker Ben Luján's office in the basement of the Capitol, visitors streamed in, looking for name tags or information or a place to hang their coats. Staffers frantically worked the phones, rounding up lawmakers for an upcoming floor session. Students came by on a tour, and other people mingled around th ...

Session wrap-up signals election-year battles ahead

Standing in the lobby of the Governor's Office on Thursday, surrounded by a gaggle of news media representatives, Gov. Susana Martinez put a smiling face on the 2012 legislative session. But while the first-term Republican governor claimed victory on a number of legislative matters, just below the surface was the politica ...

Legislative roundup, Feb. 16, 2012

Days remaining in session: 1/2 Medical pot funding passes: A bill to set into law a funding mechanism for the state medical marijuana program passed the House on Wednesday and now goes to Gov. Susana Martinez for her signature. Senate Bill 240, sponsored by Sen. Cisco McSorley, D-Albuquerque, would create a Medical Mar ...

NMPolitics.net Legislative blog (Wednesday night)

EDITOR'S NOTE: The text below and the live blog above is provided by Heath Haussamen, the editor and publisher of NMPolitics.net. Haussamen and NMPolitics.net contributor Gwyneth Doland have each participated in Legislative Lunch live blogs hosted by The New Mexican throughout the past month during the 2012 Legislative sess ...

[Read chat transcript] Legislative Lunch Live Blog

What's going on with the 2012 legislative session? The buzz from the Roundhouse is spreading around the state and we want to know what everyone has to say about it. Join our Legislative Lunch live blog at noon each Wednesday during the session (Feb. 15). Who is invited? Politicians, reporters from around the state and ...

N.M. leaves No Child system behind

New Mexico is becoming the latest state to free itself from an unpopular federal system of rating public schools.  President Barack Obama's administration on Wednesday granted New Mexico the flexibility to implement its own school grading program rather than follow the mandates of the No Child Left Behind law.  ...

PRC bill passes, 'combined reporting' squeaks by as session wraps up

The Legislature will send a question to New Mexico voters this November that could begin the breakup of the troubled Public Regulation Commission. After a lengthy debate, the Senate on Wednesday night voted 40-0 to pass House Joint Resolution 16, a measure that will ask New Mexicans to change the New Mexico Constitution t ...

Democrats push to keep straight-party balloting

Since the late 1960s, New Mexico voters have been able to vote a straight-party ticket -- picking all Democrats or all Republicans -- in general elections. However, the straight-party option isn't listed anywhere in the state election code, and some Democrats fear the option will disappear by the November general election. ...

Legislative standoff dooms immigrant license bill

Republican Gov. Susana Martinez isn't giving up on her proposal to stop New Mexico from granting licenses to illegal immigrants, but her top House ally predicts the issue is dead for this year's legislative session. The Senate won't accept the governor's proposal although the House has approved it. Rep. Andy Nuñ ...

Change in disclosure bill worries nonprofits

A bipartisan proposal that would tighten disclosure laws for groups that run political ads but aren't formally connected with candidates or parties seems to be zipping through the Legislature in recent days. However, changes made in recent days to Senate Bill 11, recommended by the Attorney General's Office, have some non ...

Legislative roundup, Feb. 15, 2012

Days remaining in session: 1 Senate honors Luján: There were few dry eyes on the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon as members of the Senate paid tribute to House Speaker Ben Luján, D-Nambé, who is not seeking re-election this year because he is suffering from late-stage lung cancer. Senators from both ...

Santa Fe County in line for $14 million in project funding — if Martinez signs off

Santa Fe County could see an injection of more than $14 million in state money for a variety of brick-and-mortar projects if capital-outlay legislation clears the Legislature. The dollars earmarked for Santa Fe County in House Bill 191 would pay for projects ranging from renovations to the Manuel Lujan building on St. Fra ...

Skandera confirmation, once again, unlikely

It appears that for a second year, Hanna Skandera won't win confirmation as the state's Public Education Department secretary. There is no law prohibiting the former Florida deputy commissioner of education from continuing to serve as Gov. Susana Martinez's choice to oversee New Mexico school systems. However, it's unli ...