Gov. says she will sign budget and tax package; no special session

Gov. Susana Martinez hold a news conference to talk about the end of the 2013 legislative session at the State Capital in Santa Fe, Saturday, March 16, 2013. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)

Gov. Susana Martinez told reporters she will sign a huge tax package approved by legislators in the final minutes of this year’s 60-day legislative session.

Martinez, who had threatened to veto the budget due to concerns over her educational and economic development initiatives, also said today she will sign the $5.9 billion budget but may use her line-item veto authority to strike down some parts of it.

As a result, she will not call lawmakers back to Santa Fe for a special session, she said.

“We accomplished great things for the state of New Mexico,” Martinez told reporters during a news conference in her Capitol office.

The first-term Republican governor has until April 5 to act on legislation passed during the final three days of the session. She said she has not made up her mind on whether she will sign some bills, including a pair of high-profile pension solvency measures.

Martinez left immediately after today’s news conference to travel to Washington D.C., where she will meet up with other members of a U.S. delegation traveling to Rome tomorrow for Pope Francis’ inaugural Mass.

Read more about the outcome of the legislative session:
- At the Roundhouse — The end
- Highlights of 51st New Mexico Legislature
- Overview: New Mexico Legislature adjourns