DAILY LOBO new mexico
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March 21, 2011
The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
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Legislators scrape together budget in waning moments by Shaun Griswold shaun24@unm.edu
The 60-day legislative session ended Saturday, and New Mexico legislators narrowly passed a $5.4 billion budget just before time ran out. Lawmakers allocated $730 million for higher education. Nearly $43 million, or 6 percent, was cut from higher education funds compared with last year. “Everybody expected, in part, a lot worse,” said Marc Saavedra, UNM Government Relations spokesman. UNM’s main and north campus saw a total appropriation of $274.6 million, roughly 36 percent of the overall higher education budget. UNM received roughly a 3.1 percent decrease in state funds from last year and fared better than New Mexico State University, which received 3.9 percent in cuts. UNM main campus was
allocated roughly $164 million for instructional and general purposes, $2.5 million for Athletics and $1 million for education television purposes. The total was about $5.4 million less than last year, according to the UNM Office of Planning, Budget and Analysis. UNM branches also saw a decline in state money. UNM-Gallup was appropriated $8.3 million; UNMValencia will receive $4.7 million; Taos branch was allocated $2.7 million; and UNM-Los Alamos was allocated $1.7 million from the state. Each branch saw a nearly 6 percent decrease from last year. The Health Sciences Center allocated $58.2 million for instructional and general purposes, more than any other state university other than NMSU. The Children’s Psychiatric Hospital received $6.5 million and Carrie Tingley Hospital was allocated $4.7 million. Gov. Susana Martinez has until April 11 to review and sign the budget bill.
Governor didn’t budge on education, law enforcement by Shaun Griswold shaun24@unm.edu
Throughout the session, the House and Senate struggled to compromise on a budget bill and found themselves bogged down in late-night debates about the state’s film tax subsidies, stateemployee pensions and providing driver’s licenses to undocumented citizens, all while trying to trim more than $100 million from the state’s budget.
“ We did everything we could to eliminate the tuition credit and explain to lawmakers it’s essentially a tax on students.” ~Marc Saavedra UNM Government Relations Director
In an effort to save $50 million, the House voted 35-34 to require state employees and educators to pay an additional 1.5 percent of their paycheck this year and 1.75 percent next year into retirement pensions. “What it really amounts to is a
Inside the
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3.25 percent pay cut for workers,” said Carter Bundy, an AFSCME union representative. The film subsidy was capped at $50 million, an effort film advocates said may kill the film program, but something Republicans would not back down from. The effort to stop issuing driver’s licenses to undocumented citizens was contested until the last hour, but eventually was killed in the legislative process. The push to extend the Lottery Scholarship application time to 16 months was also defeated by time. Rep. Bill O’Neill (D-Albuquerque) sponsored legislation to allow recent high school graduates a 16-month window before they have to enroll. The bill was passed by the House and the Senate Judiciary Committee but was placed at the bottom of the agenda and never received a vote by the full Senate. Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez said communication between Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration and the legislative body slowed the legislative process. “I don’t know that there was any willingness to negotiate on any issue,” Sanchez said. “With
see Budget page 6
Zach Gould / Daily Lobo Amy Hoffman belly dances at the Peace and Justice Center’s Arts and Crafts Fair on Sunday. More than a dozen vendors and 50 patrons gathered for the University-area fair.
Students want seat at the table by Alexandra Swanberg aswanny@unm.edu
A group of students spent part of its spring break demanding that the Board of Regents cut administrative pay and put the UNM salary book online. GPSA council chair Megan McRobert said at the March 16 meeting that administration
Irish on parade
NCAA at The Pit
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doesn’t allow students to be part of budget-related decision making in a meaningful way. She said that decision-making groups should include students, and meetings should be advertised to the public. “Our intellectual capability, the fact that we’re doing innovative and cutting-edge research means that students are in a
prime situation to be a part of these processes,” she said. “I understand that we’re in a financial situation that has been repeatedly described as a crisis, and I would argue that the students we have available to us are a resource we have not yet tapped.” The six students who spoke
see Regents page 6
TODAY
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