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paperboy text opinion editorialsThis editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by editorial page staff and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers
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Saturday, January 30, 2010
Lawmakers Should Put People Before the Pork
As the Legislature starts making the tough decisions required to plug a $600-million-plus budget shortfall, members should keep at least one principle in mind: People matter more than pork.
Sure, taking home $1.3 million for a Santa Fe Opera rehearsal hall or $431,000 for Albuquerque Museum improvements or $1.7 million for endangered fish in the San Juan Chama River is important to stakeholders. But is it more important than paying teachers? Providing benefits to developmentally disabled residents? Training State Police recruits so they can answer the call for help on a dark interstate?
SB 182 targets thousands of undone/unwanted/underfunded state capital outlay projects. It would also pull back leftover monies from finished work. One of its sponsors, Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, says because it cancels projects in communities across the state, "it's sort of a poison pill for a lot of members on both sides of the aisle."
Those members should know even tougher pills for average New Mexicans to swallow would be pay cuts, reduced services or higher taxes because lawmakers insist on keeping the credit for piecemeal projects that stay on the books but never get off the ground.
According to the Legislative Finance Committee, the total for projects that have yet to turn a spade of dirt is around $1.4 billion — with a "B." Some have been tying up cash for seven years. SB 182 targets a modest $150 million worth.
If any of the projects are truly "shovel ready" — as in ready to put people to work and ready to help get the economy moving in the right direction — lawmakers should ensure they get off the dime.
Otherwise, they need to take those dimes back and use them to balance the budget, mitigate salary and service cuts and reduce the need for tax increases.
Even in the dictionary, "people" comes before "pork."
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