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Friday, July 03, 2009
Another $18.7M Heading to State
By Andrea Schoellkopf
Journal Staff Writer
The state is getting another $18.7 million in federal stimulus money for use at Gov. Bill Richardson's discretion.
The money has been reported as more dollars for education, but a news release from the U.S. Department of Education said the money is the last installment of a government services fund, which can go for a variety of uses.
"The intention is to stabilize all the state's budget so no cuts are made to schools," said Jude McCartin, spokeswoman for Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M.
Former New Mexico Gov. Toney Anaya, who runs the state's stimulus-focused Office of Recovery and Reinvestment, said Richardson has not yet decided how he will spend the government portion of the state's stimulus money, which totals $58.7 million.
He said he's received more than $14 billion in requests for that money, which is supposed to help address budget shortfalls and is available for education, school modernization, public safety or other government services.
"The governor is under a lot of pressure to do several things," Anaya said. "He's under pressure by some legislators to use (the stimulus) to plug up budget deficits from the current fiscal year."
There is an additional $260 million separately available for education, he said.
Richardson has indicated, however, $2 million of the stimulus money will go toward welfare assistance and another $3 million to $4 million may go toward keeping open College of Santa Fe.
In its entirety, New Mexico is slated to receive some $3 billion in federal stimulus money over a two-year period, nearly half of which will be spent on education and Medicaid.
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