State Budget

Martinez signs bill slashing budget, but saves PED secretary priorities
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Gov. Susana Martinez signed a bill passed during the recently-completed legislative special session that cut spending in most state agencies, but used her line-item veto authority to spare “below-the-line” funding for the Public Education Department. The bill was part of the effort to solve a budget problem that is estimated to leave the state hundreds of millions of dollars in the hole. This education funding, which restored the $22 million the version passed by the Legislature, goes towards projects of PED that are not part of the state equalization guarantee, the formula that seeks to provide equal funding per student across the state. These funds go towards programs like the controversial merit pay program as well as popular programs like “breakfast after the bell” and after-school programs.
Democrats and Martinez’s administration have clashed over some of the funding since she was first sworn in. Martinez slammed the Legislature for passing the bill with those education cuts intact (though the House version subtracted the cuts from $25 million to $22 million).