The governor just threw a fit
Gov. Susana Martinez came into office with plenty of goodwill and popular support. She was re-elected handily (this newspaper even endorsed her for a second term). But Martinez’s actions last week in vetoing the entire revenue bill to keep the state’s books balanced, her decisions about the state budget and her pettiness over a number of other pieces of legislation likely will squander what little backing she has left.
This is a governor who has given up the notion of actually running the state and has decided to use what power she does have to obstruct.
Consider that the Legislature sent Martinez a prudent budget with spending increases kept to a minimum — the fiscal year 2018 budget came in at $6.1 billion. To balance that budget, the state needed $150 million in new revenue. To make sure there would be enough revenue to pay for services, the Legislature accompanied the budget with a $350 million revenue package. Obviously, lawmakers knew she would not embrace the entire bill. They sent a combination of fee hikes and tax increases, packaging it so that Martinez could trim those measures she found most offensive (a gasoline tax, for example) but making the point that the state needs new revenues to make sure that schools and other essential services are not damaged.
Rather than work with these bipartisan proposals, Martinez vetoed portions of the budget — including all appropriations for the legislative branch and all funds for higher education. That’s right, the governor has canceled colleges and universities for the time being. She line-itemed vetoed some $750 million for universities and legislative employee salaries and services. That means, come July 1, all higher education facilities have no state funding.
What’s the purpose? To show that she can? Her singling out higher education makes no sense. (Supposedly, this is retaliation for the Senate failing to approve regent appointments). How ridiculous. We said during the regular legislative session that the Senate should move the confirmation process along; even so, slicing higher education spending (only to waste time later putting it back in) is political grandstanding.
The uncertainty over budgets will last until a special session is called and funding restored. But colleges and universities deserve better. Already, New Mexico State University is postponing adopting a tuition schedule for next fall — why? Leaders there do not know how much money they are getting from the state. Students and families are in limbo, all because the governor is throwing a hissy fit.
The intention, of course, is to bring lawmakers back to a special session — at which point, by hook or by crook, New Mexico will emerge with a balanced budget. That’s no extraordinary feat; a balanced budget is constitutionally mandated. The state cannot spend more than it takes in.
The question facing New Mexico is whether spending will be robust enough to keep schools open, roads fixed and government services supported. The legislative budget did that, and shored up the state’s reserves with sensible fee and tax hikes. It was an adult approach, as opposed to Martinez’s plan presented before the session, one that cut the pay of state workers and took cash from school district reserves.
Months later, Martinez — with her overused line about not burdening families of New Mexico — will not budge. She wants wide-reaching gross receipts tax changes — even though it’s unclear whether proposed legislation actually would bring in enough revenue to support necessary state spending. She wants no tax increases (we’re unsure whether she still might support closing loopholes). She wants her way and she wants it now, and continues to threaten to shut down state government and furlough workers. Surely, in her worry about families, Martinez can spare a thought for the workers who won’t be able to pay bills if she cuts their pay. After all, much of Martinez’s adult life was spent as a state employee, first in the District Attorney’s Office and now as governor.
At a news conference Monday in Las Cruces, Martinez did not set a date for a special session but said she believes that “we can work together and we can fix this problem without raising taxes on families. I have confidence we can pull together and fix this budget. A solution does not require raising taxes.”
The best solution still requires more revenue, however. The Legislature made it simple for the governor to fund the budget without tax increases, relying more on closing loopholes and fee hikes. She could have sliced the revenue package herself and also trimmed spending, crafting her vision of what she wants revenues and expenditures to look like. She didn’t need to call back the Legislature to make fixes at a cost to taxpayers of $50,000 a day.
What a waste of money — and time, and resources, all from someone who claims to put taxpayers first. For New Mexico, the next two years cannot move quickly enough. Oh, if only the Legislature could pass a two-year spending plan so that Gov. Martinez can use her time making speeches, reading to schoolchildren or doing whatever else she enjoys besides actually governing. If only.