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Which capital outlay projects did Martinez veto?

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Gov. Susana Martinez signed capital outlay legislation that funded nearly $300 million for infrastructure and other projects on Wednesday, though she did make some cuts. In all, Martinez used her line-item veto authority to cut 41 programs from counties around the state and one statewide project. Martinez vetoed around $1.1 million in funding. She explained her decision-making process, somewhat, in her executive message on the bill where she outlined the vetoes:
In deciding whether to sign or veto projects, I balanced various features of each project (given the information to which I had access) against a set of criteria that should guide the use of capital outlay funds. Let me be clear: every project in this legislation likely has merit.

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Martinez signs nearly $300 million capital outlay bill (updated)

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Gov. Susana Martinez signed a nearly $300-million capital outlay bill on Wednesday that passed during a special legislative session last week after it failed to pass during the regular session earlier this year. Martinez was in Las Cruces, the latest stop in her tour of the state to promote the three pieces of legislation that passed during the special session. Martinez is also scheduled appear in Santa Teresa today, a day after appearing in Rio Rancho to tout the capital outlay package. Martinez highlighted the passage of funding for highway projects as part of the $294 million package. “Far too many of our roads are dangerous, and they are in dire need of repair.

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Martinez signs tax package; capital outlay still pending

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Gov. Susana Martinez signed a tax package on Monday afternoon that she says will create jobs throughout the state. Martinez, accompanied by those in the business community as well as legislators, signed the legislation in Albuquerque. The state Legislature passed the tax package last week overwhelmingly during a special session. The package failed to pass during the regular session earlier this year. “We must diversify our economy and grow our private sector, and that requires us to make it easier for those with great ideas to start a new business in New Mexico,” Martinez said in a statement.

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Top ten (plus two) individual capital outlay projects

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The New Mexico Legislature passed a capital outlay bill that will fund more than 1,000 infrastructure projects throughout the state during a special session earlier this week. Depending on your point of view, legislators came back and were able to put aside differences and pass a bipartisan bill or they finally got work done that should have been done in the 60-day session that took place earlier this year. In all, there will be $295 million in spending, most from severance tax bonds but some from the state general fund and other state funds. The smallest amount appropriated was $1,000 for the Questa Veterans Memorial. Legislators earmarked over $16 million for the largest individual project.

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It’s official: Special session on Monday

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It’s now official: Governor Susana Martinez has called a special session for Monday. The special session is expected to last just one day, as negotiators from the governor’s office, the House and Senate announced a deal had been made. Martinez’s office sent a release to the media on Friday evening, saying that she is calling the state legislature into a special legislative session at noon on Monday. Some, including legislators, thought it had been too late for a special session to happen. But an action by the state Board of Finance made it possible.

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Deal reached, special session could happen on Monday

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It turns out that when Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, told New Mexico Political Report that a deal on capital outlay for capital outlay legislation and a tax package was near, he was very literal. Gov. Susana Martinez announced in a press release Wednesday afternoon, just hours after Smith said a deal was near, that the two sides reached an agreement and that she will call a special session. It will be just the second special session that Martinez has called since being in office, the previous one in 2011 dealt with the required decennial redistricting. The special session is tentatively scheduled for June 8, though Martinez’s office did not say it would for sure happen on that date. The capital outlay package will be $295 million in size.

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Special session resurrected?

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A deal on a capital outlay measure and a tax package bill could revive a previously dead special legislative session next week. Update: A special session will happen, as soon as Monday, Gov. Susana Martinez announced. See here for details. This post continues as originally written below. State Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, told New Mexico Political Report that legislators have been notified to set next Monday and Tuesday aside to be available for a possible session.

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Martinez has no plans to call a special session

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The odds of a special session are nearing nil, as a spokesman for Gov. Susana Martinez said that she has “no intention” to call a special session for capital outlay funding. If Martinez’s intention remains the same, there will be no capital outlay spending this year, since the Legislature failed to pass such legislation during the year’s regular session. The capital outlay legislation would have funded more than $200 million in spending for infrastructure and other projects throughout the state. A spokesman for Martinez told the Albuquerque Journal about the special session possibility, or lack thereof.A Martinez spokesman said the governor met twice today with Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, the lead negotiator for the Senate Democrats, in an attempt to forge an elusive deal on special session legislation. However, the news release sent out later in the day by Senate Democrats, which the Governor’s Office blasted as “partisan” and “misleading,” apparently prompted the decision not to call a special session — at least for now.Earlier on Thursday, New Mexico Political Report reported that Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, was not optimistic about a special session being called.

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Sen. Smith not optimistic about special session deal

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Although “hope springs eternal,” state Sen. John Arthur Smith isn’t optimistic a special session will happen this year. “As of noon today, we’ve gotten no feedback from the executive branch,” Smith, D-Deming, and a key negotiator to any deal that would bring legislators back to Santa Fe to pass a capital outlay bill, told New Mexico Political Report Wednesday afternoon. Smith said if legislators can’t strike a deal before a creeping deadline of Monday, May 18, all bets are pretty much off. That’s because New Mexico’s next fiscal year starts July 1, and bond sales for state infrastructure projects need 30 days to advertise before then. If the legislature approves a new capital outlay late, Smith said the state will lose bond capacity on new projects outlined in a deal.

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Lobbyists and organizations spend half million dollars on pols this year

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By Sandra Fish | New Mexico In Depth
Lobbyists and organizations feted New Mexico legislators and other officials with more than $519,000 worth of food, drink and gifts from Jan. 15 through the end of April. Of the 600 lobbyists registered with the Secretary of State’s office to represent more than 750 clients, only 116 spent money during the session. Those individual lobbyists spent $334,419 on events such as the 100th Bill Party, electric toothbrushes, teddy bears, gift certificates and, in one instance, ammunition for concealed carry training. And 14 companies spent $184,685.