New Mexico expected to bring in extra $300 million from oil and gas
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.- New Mexico lawmakers believe the state's economy is in better shape than originally thought.
They are forecasting New Mexico will bring in $300 million
new dollars.
According to a key lawmaker who spends most of her days
working on the budget, about 75% of that new money is coming from the oil and
gas industry.
The $7.2 billion spending plan includes pay increase for
state employees and teachers.
The state took out some federal loans during the pandemic.
The budget will allocate money to pay that money back to the federal
government.
Repairing roads and expanding broadband are also a major
focus of the budget. It aims to send money to tribes to help with water, roads
and electrical and broadband connectivity.
This budget also calls for the state's savings account to be
at about 22%.
Republicans have expressed concerns that the state is
building a budget on one-time federal dollars.
"We have what I would call a fake economy," said
Rep. Rod Montoya. "Dollars that are sustaining our budget that are coming
from the federal government. That's what has happened, federal dollars have
gone into the economy here and in a phoney way has upheld us."
Meanwhile, Democrats say they recognize that federal money
is coming into New Mexico.
"Most of that is tied to the pandemic and pandemic
use," said Rep. Patty Lundstrom. "We expect a big chunk going to
public education, to school districts, to high education, obviously healthcare
and human services. But this is generally to cover expenses not anticipated
because of the pandemic."
Comments
Post a Comment