New Mexico state budget (2008-2009)
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The fiscal year for the State of New Mexico is determined by the New Mexico State Legislature. The current 2009 fiscal year for the State of New Mexico is from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009.[1] The New Mexico state budget, is in an economic tailspin as Governor Bill Richardson oversees one of the poorest states in the country where the federal government at this time pays for 71 percent of the costs for Medicaid. New Mexico Sens. Tom Udall and Jeff Bingaman have shown their support for the Federal Stimulus Package as Bingam states, "The goal of this law is to reduce the length and severity of the recession that is hurting New Mexico families. All told, our state will see more than $1.6 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The funding, combined with the tax cuts for working families contained in the new law, will create more than 22,000 jobs in New Mexico and help get our economy back on track." Fiscal Policy Project, the research and analysis program of New Mexico Voices for Children, released a recent report and predicts New Mexico’s state government will remain in a budgetary decline for at least the next two fiscal years.[2] [3][4]
[edit] The 2009 Deficit
- New Mexico has $454 million MID-YEAR FY2009 BUDGET GAP.[5]
- The school system in New Mexico has a $475 million deficit [6]
- The New Mexico state budget crisis has an additional challenge due to the "expected cost of our health care system will increase from $6 billion to $8 billion by 2011," according to Roxanne Spruce Bly, executive director of Health Action New Mexico.[7]
[edit] The Federal Stimulus Package
- The State of New Mexico submitted 215 projects for funds from the Federal Stimulus Package.[8]
- The funding request for 215 projects totals $2,937,146,132 for the cities of Alamogordo, Albuquerque, Bayard, Espanola, Las Cruces, Rio Rancho, Santa Fe, and Silver City .[9]
[edit] Causes of the Budget Crisis
- The report from the Fiscal Policy Project blames the revenue shortfall on a number of factors, foremost amont them the dropping prices in crude oil and natural gas. It also cites the current national recession and credit crunch.[10]
- "This is nothing short of a crisis," said "The Legislature will have some tough choices to make come January," he added.
- "The income tax cuts of 2003 made us more reliant on revenue from oil and gas extraction, but prices for those commodities are based on international influences that are far beyond our control," states New Mexico Voices Research Director and report author Gerry Bradley. "This is nothing short of a crisis."[11]
[edit] Proposed Solutions
[edit] Republicans
[edit] Democrats
- Governor Bill Richardson proposed to increase the state's tax credit for renewable-energy production, as well as those that would help biomass, wind, solar and geothermal production. House Speaker Ben Luján, D-Nambé, agrees with the benefits of these renewable-energy projects for improving the situation for the budget crisis.[12]
[edit] Weatherization Assistance Program and the State Energy Program
- The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) says the state will receive $26,855,604 for the Weatherization Assistance Program and $31,821,000 for the State Energy Program. “Improving energy efficiency and weatherizing homes and buildings will save families money, create jobs, and help us move toward energy independence,” said U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján. U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich agreed with this plan as he stated the funding allows New Mexicans to save "money on their energy bill, and move us toward energy independence.”[13]
[edit] Budget Background
[edit] Chart on Spending FY 2001 to FY 2009
The following table provides a history for New Mexico's budgeted and actual expenditures from the General Fund.
| Fiscal Year | General Fund Budgeted | General Fund Actual | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000-2001 | $[14] | $3,543,300,000[15] | |
| 2001-2002 | $[16] | $3,870,430,000[15] | |
| 2002-2003 | $[17] | $3,895,800,000[15] | |
| 2003-2004 | $[18] | $4,119,800,000[15] | |
| 2004-2005 | $[19] | $4,406,400,000[15] | |
| 2005-2006 | $[20] | $4,707,400,000[15] | |
| 2006-2007 | $[21] | $5,115,100,000[15] | |
| 2007-2008 | $[22] | $6,015,000,000[15] | |
| 2008-2009 | $5,719,000,000[23] | $*[15] |
*Actual expenditure data is not yet available for Fiscal Year 2009.
[edit] News
- Sign up for the showmethespending.com weekly transparency e-updates. As transparency news about New Mexico becomes available, it will be sent out by email and posted here.
[edit] Legislation
Although New Mexico Senate Bill 159 (2009), the "Budget Transparency Act," passed the Senate, it died in committee in the spring of 2009.[24][25] It was introduced by New Mexico Senator Sander Rue.[26]
[edit] Government tools
The following table is helpful in evaluating the level of transparency provided by a state spending and transparency database:
| State Database | Searchability | Grants | Contracts | Line Item Expenditures | Dept/Agency Budgets | Public Employee Salary | Exemption Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
[edit] Limitations and Suggestions for Improvements
This section will be developed once New Mexico has a spending transparency database in place.
[edit] Public employee salary information
- The Albuquerque Journal has several lists of the salaries of top state officials on their Watchdog resources page.
- A listing of the New Mexico state payroll from 2009 is posted here
[edit] See Also
New Mexico taxpayer-funded lobbying
[edit] External links
- Model transparency legislation from the American Legislative Exchange Council is available at this link.
- Rio Grande Foundation
- New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration, Budget Division
- Governor's Office
[edit] References
- ↑ New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee, 2009
- ↑ New Mexico Independent, "A first glimpse at the federal stimulus package", January 15, 2009
- ↑ New Mexico Independent, N.M's Senators praise stimulus package-tout $1.6B, 22k jobs", February 17, 2009
- ↑ New Mexico Business Weekly, "State Budget crisis could last through 2011", December 23, 2008
- ↑ Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, "State Budget Troubles Worsen", March 13, 2009
- ↑ AOL News, "School Budget Crisis: $475 Million Deficit", November 9, 2008
- ↑ New Mexico Independent, "Budget crisis requires health care reform, advocates say", December 10, 2008
- ↑ Stimulus Watch: Keeping an Eye on Economic Recovery Spending, "Find Projects by State or Territory", 2009
- ↑ Stimulus Watch: Keeping an Eye on Economic Recovery Spending, "Projects in New Mexico", 2009
- ↑ New Mexico Business Weekly, "State budget crisis could last through 2011", December 23, 2008
- ↑ New Mexico Voices for Children, "Report: NM state budget crisis likely to last through FY11", December 22, 2008
- ↑ Santa Fe New Mexican, "Richardson urges action despite budget crisis", January 20, 2009
- ↑ New Mexico Independent, "New Mexico's trio of congressman tout $58 million in recovery funding", March 12, 2009
- ↑ 2007 RecommendVolIII
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 15.8 2007 RecommendVolIII
- ↑ 2007 RecommendVolIII
- ↑ 2007 RecommendVolIII
- ↑ 2007 RecommendVolIII
- ↑ 2007 RecommendVolIII
- ↑ 2007 RecommendVolIII
- ↑ 2008 Recommend VolIII
- ↑ February 2009 Rev Testimony
- ↑ February 2009 Rev Testimony
- ↑ Rio Grande Foundation, "New Mexico Votes: Progress of 2009 Senate Bill 159"
- ↑ New Mexico Legislature, New Mexico Senate Bill 159
- ↑ State Senator Sander Rue
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