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Friday, November 06, 2009

Governor Complicated the Budget Cutting Task

By Sen. Tim Jennings
President Pro Tempore, New Mexico Legislature
      Over the course of the recent special session called by Gov. Bill Richardson to address the $650 million budget shortfall, legislators took time away from their homes, jobs and families to perform a task I doubt any of them were excited about. In my experience, public service is much more about trying to help people than it is about making their lives more difficult. The prospect of having to cut state government, including jobs and services, was an extremely difficult one.
       The legislators came to Santa Fe at the time the governor announced he would issue the proclamation that would call them into special session, only to find that the proclamation was not ready. In fact, it was not issued until around 3 p.m. on the day the session was to begin. Looking back, it would have been helpful for the governor to provide the public, the Legislature and state agencies some glimpse of his latest plans to address our financial difficulties well in advance of the special session, particularly because his proclamation laid out very specifically what he was asking the Legislature to do.
       At the end of the week-long session, we arrived at a compromise that addressed most of the shortfall. None of us was entirely happy with what we did. Some members wanted to raise taxes and avoid budget cuts while others opposed tax increases and wanted more lasting spending cuts.
       Although the governor ruled out both those options, he never really proposed a plan to close the $650 million budget gap we face this year. While the ideas put forth by the Senate were not necessarily the ones that were ultimately agreed upon, they did reflect the desire of each senator to find a way out of our massive financial hole.
       I commend the House of Representatives, and particularly the House Appropriations and Finance Committee under the leadership of Rep. Henry “Kiki” Saavedra and Rep. Luciano “Lucky” Varela, for doing an admirable job in crafting a budget solution within the constraints placed upon us by the governor.
       Representatives Saavedra and Varela had a monumental task, and they managed to develop a plan almost everyone could agree to that actually balances the budget and gives the governor flexibility to cut some budgets and spare others. Tapping into reserves, using money from various funds and making cuts to some state agencies are all solutions contained in the bills sitting on the governor's desk. Also worth noting is that cuts to public education were kept to a minimum.
       Under the best of circumstances, making the choices the Legislature made would be extremely difficult. However, the circumstances of the recent special session were far from ideal, particularly with regard to the parameters set for us by the governor's proclamation.
       He outlined, in very specific terms, the things we could consider and those subjects we could not. I understand that the governor is not satisfied with the work of the Legislature, but in tying our hands in his proclamation, he cannot be surprised by the results.
       The governor called the Legislature in to special session to perform an extremely difficult task, yet he did not provide us with enough flexibility to do it properly. He also appears to be trying to undermine our work, create a sense of panic about potential cuts and further complicate a process that is far from complete by having various Cabinet secretaries incite despair and hopelessness among an already fragile population.
       We still may have to cut $450 million or more from the state budget in January.
       To lay blame and accuse the Legislature, in effect, of bad faith in the recently ended special session does not aid the ability of New Mexico's Legislature and residents to deal with this situation in January. I know that letters I've written in the past have caused some problems by notifying schools and state agencies of the impending shortfall, but I believe some of this needs saying and that the actions of the Legislature, while not perfect, deserve acknowledgment, rather than scorn, from the governor.
       Finally, I want to emphasize that while the governor has claimed that cuts to Medicaid are unavoidable in the legislation sent to him, the Legislature never intended such cuts. The analysis we had available while making decisions on the bills before us indicated that Medicaid would indeed be held harmless, and the legislation sent to the governor provides him with the flexibility in determining cuts to further protect those New Mexicans who can protect themselves the least.
       Sen. Tim Jennings is a Democrat from Roswell.
       

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