House Dems to vote on overriding budget vetoes
Republicans face choice to side with Gov. Martinez’s decision to ‘put aside’ higher ed, legislative funding
Democrats in the state House of Representatives will attempt to override Republican Gov. Susana Martinez’s vetoes of funding for all colleges, universities and the Legislature itself during the special session that begins Wednesday, said House Speaker Brian Egolf.
“There will be an override vote,” Egolf said in an interview Tuesday. “I’m just not exactly sure when it’ll happen.”
An override vote would present Republicans lawmakers with a dilemma. Either they could vote to override a governor of their own party, or they could in effect endorse her vetoes of all funds for colleges and universities as well as hospitals and other programs under their umbrella.
But partisan politics is not the reason for an override vote, said Egolf, D-Santa Fe. He said such an action was suggested by the state Supreme Court recently when it dismissed a petition filed by the Legislative Council that sought to declare Martinez’s vetoes unconstitutional. The court ruled that
the case wasn’t ripe for review because the Legislature had not exhausted all its remedies — namely the power to override — as prescribed in the constitution.
House Republican Leader Nate Gentry did nmot respond to a requests for comment.
Michael Lonergan, a spokesman for the governor, said an override “would be a vote to cut $1 million from cancer treatment and research and $2 million from financial assistance for students.” These are increases to the original budget that the governor proposes.
Overriding a veto takes a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and the Senate.
Democrats control the House 38-32, which means they would need the votes of nine Republicans to override. Enough Democrats are in the Senate to override a veto without any Republican support. Democrats have a 26-16 advantage in that chamber.
Asked if there would be an override vote in the Senate, Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, wouldn’t commit on Tuesday. He said that is “to be determined on our side of the aisle.”
Martinez in April signed the budget bill approved during the regular 60-day session. But in an unusual move, she vetoed the entire budget for higher education institutions as well as for the Legislature.
She said she did so to force a special session. She also vetoed a revenue bill — which included some tax increases, including a 10-cents per gallon tax on gasoline — that would have balanced the budget.
The vetoes received national attention, and state university presidents criticized Martinez’s action as destructive.
“The vetoes have wreaked havoc on the ability of higher education institutions and their students to engage in rational planning for the fall semester, hurt faculty recruitment efforts, and jeopardized accreditation and financing,” Kevin Washburn, a former dean of The University of New Mexico School of Law, wrote on behalf of the university presidents in a brief filed with the Supreme Court. “The vetoes also jeopardize public health because they eliminated more than $18 million intended for hospitals associated with universities.”
Martinez has said for weeks she didn’t intend to permanently delete the college funds.
“We’re not going to not fund higher education,” she told reporters at an April news conference in Española. “That is extremely important to the Legislature and to me. We set it aside because I didn’t have a balanced budget. Since I didn’t have a balanced budget, we had to set things aside. And then we’re going to put it back, of course, the [funds for] higher ed and the Legislature.”
During the regular session, legislators tried to override Martinez’s veto of bill that would have allowed more sick days for teachers. The Senate, led by Republican Sen. Craig Brandt of Rio Rancho, voted overwhelmingly for the override.
But the move fizzled in the House, where all Republicans — even sponsors of the bill — stuck by Martinez, assuring the move would not get the required two-thirds majority.