ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Gov. Susana Martinez isn’t backing down from threats not to sign measures that would increase taxes in New Mexico as the deadline nears for her to take action on a host of bills passed during the recent legislative session.
Her office on Tuesday reiterated that tax hikes are off the table.
The political standoff between the two-term Republican governor and the Democrat-controlled Legislature leaves uncertainty about the $6.1 million budget approved during the session that ended March 18.
The spending plan for public education and other government programs is built upon a package of proposals aimed at plugging a shortfall with roughly $350 million in new taxes and fees on gasoline sales, retail sales over the internet, trucking permits and nonprofit hospital operations.
Martinez has said the tax increases amount to burdens on working families. But Senate Democrats argue that the budget and new taxes are a reasonable option for pulling the state out of a fiscal crisis stemming a stagnant economy and a downturn in the oil and gas industry that has reduced state revenue.
To shore up revenues without outright tax increases, the Martinez administration had pressured lawmakers to forgo $67 million in state spending on capital projects. The Legislature instead put most of that money toward restoring cash reserves taken earlier from school district to plug a deficit for the current budget year.
The Legislature also shunned the governor’s recommendation to sweep about $12 million from legislative retirement accounts - a plan viewed as unconstitutional by managers of the retirement fund for state and judicial bureaucrats.
With threats of a special legislative session still looming, lawmakers say they are in a holding pattern until the governor takes action on the spending and taxing bills.
The deadline is Friday. Any measure not signed is automatically vetoed.
Other measures under review by the governor’s office include a proposal to crack down on so-called dark money political donations. Under the bill, independent political groups that spend unlimited amounts of money to influence New Mexico elections would have to report the sources of donations.
The bipartisan bill responds to the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Citizens United case that opened the door for corporations and unions to make unlimited independent expenditures in elections.
Also pending is legislation that would ensure New Mexico children are served school meals even if their parents do not pay on time. It outlines debt collection procedures for unpaid breakfasts and lunches at public, private and religious schools that accept federal subsidies for student meals.
The bill also prohibits schools from calling attention to children who can’t pay to avoid any stigma. In recent years, there was a backlash against school districts in New Mexico that served cheese sandwiches to students who could not pay.
Martinez over the weekend gathered privately with a group of advocates to sign another measure affecting schools. It restricts the use of physical restraint and seclusion for students and requires schools to notify students’ parents or guardian when children have been restrained in emergency situations.
Advocates have argued that the techniques have been used on students with autism and other disabilities.
Martinez also signed legislation Monday that amends the workers’ compensation system to allow employers to fire injured workers who return to work when causes involve misconduct unrelated to injuries. It also clarifies that workers are not entitled to full disability benefits if reasonable offers to return to work are rejected.
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Associated Press writer Morgan Lee in Santa Fe contributed to this report.
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