Sisters and Brothers,

I want to give you all another update now that the LFC has had their September meeting and discussed the revenue projections for the 2010 budget and beyond. 

As many of you have already seen, the Governor is looking to to fill about a $450 million dollar gap in the 2010 budget that will be handled in the special session.  His proposal is something we are very much in favor of under the circumstances because it will not result in any layoffs or furloughs.  Obviously we are still pushing for revenue streams wither through closing corporate loopholes or repealing some of the 2003 tax breaks for the wealthiest New Mexicans , but after meeting with the Governor during his budget town halls a few weeks ago and he told us directly that there is an agreement with the legislature at this time and there will be zero tax increases during the special session, only cuts.  The LFC hammered that exact same point during the last LFC meeting.  Both the LFC and Governor are open to looking at revenues in the 30 day session and for the first time the Governor even alluded to the “combined reporting” bill that would close some of these loopholes.

Senator Smith along with other members of the LFC stated that the cuts they make to shore up the 2010 budget need to be made during the special session and they do not want to have to make any more cuts in January.  Smith along with other legislators believe we are closer to $500-$600 million in the hole and Smith recommended the cuts that are made in the special should probably go beyond that number so they won’t have to revisit in January.  Smith also said that the Governor is trying to look like the good guy by saying he doesn’t want to cut jobs or education and the legislature does.  Smith said they will still be in New Mexico after the Governor is gone and the reality from his viewpoint is that cuts to education along with layoffs and/or furloughs are just a reality we have to live with and the sooner we realize it the easier it will be to fix this.  We did get a little support from Sen. Beffort, she said we really need to look at some of these unauthorized hires by the Governor and should start there.  She didn’t target any specific departments or people, but feels there are too many employees with too big of salaries that should be looked at.

Rep. Egolf was the only member of the LFC to bring up tax increases and pointed directly to the 2003 cuts.  He said the amount we give back each year with those cuts equals about the amount we are in the hole so he hopes we can look tax increases to help remedy this situation.  He asked Tom Clifford to please try and fine some data on the other 30+ states that have raised taxes to see if it has had a positive or negative effect on their recovery.  Speaker Lujan’s assistant Regis Pecos gave Rep. Egolf and me a packet of tax increases that are good in a rescission, so it is good that the Speaker is pushing some of this as well.

I will probably have another update before the special or as soon as I get any new information, but if any of you have questions please do not hesitate to call or email.

Josh Anderson

AFSCME Council 18

505-266-2177 work

505-266-3155 fax

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