The budget bill HB-2 advanced through the House floor late last week on a 52-17 vote that featured seven Republicans voting in the affirmative. Among east-side legislators Martin Zamora voted against the measure while Jackie Chatfield voted for the bill. Freshman Andrea Reeb abstained because of concerns raised earlier about her potential for conflict of interest where budget is concerned, since she is also serving as a special prosecutor in the Rust movie case which has asked for a special allocation to prosecute the case. The proposed budget would be the largest ever at $9.4 billion. That is a 12.4% increase over last year, which was up 14% over the previous year.
The budget bill would provide for approximately 5% in raises for state employees including teachers. The budget would increase the Public Education Dept. budget by 8.6% and beef up Medicaid by $218 million or 18%.
Despite the fact that the total budget tracks close to the same amount put forward by Governor Lujan-Grisham, she has made it known she’s not completely happy with it. She said it is under-funded in the areas of child care and support for the Opportunity Scholarship. It moves to the Senate Finance Committee, where it will be taken apart and reassembled. |