Saturday, January 31, 2009

Governor to cut 470 salaries

Dan Boyd The Albuquerque Journal; Special to El Defensor Chieftain

SANTA FE SANTA FE — Gov. Bill Richardson said Thursday that he'll trim the salaries of 470 special employees and reduce his security detail, and the New Mexico House approved $100 million worth of state budget cuts to help meet a $450 million revenue shortfall.

Richardson also announced that a state government hiring and salary increase freeze will remain in place through June 30, 2010.

The developments came in the second week of a state legislative session in which the first task is to reckon with declining state revenues during a national economic nose dive.

The 2 percent reduction in salaries for the special employees would save an estimated $1 million, governor's spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said. The Governor's Office did not provide dollar figures for savings from other cuts.

The House and Senate are working on a battery of cuts that include reduced spending for schools and state programs, increasing collections of corporate taxes and canceling many public works projects around the state to free up money.

Richardson, who has labeled 2009 "The Year of Fiscal Restraint," said tough decisions must be made to balance the state's budget. The $450 million shortfall is in the current fiscal year budget, which covers spending until July. The revenue outlook for the coming fiscal year is also dire.

"We are implementing additional cuts in the Governor's Office and among appointed employees in order to squeeze as much savings as possible without cutting services to the public," Richardson said in a statement.

In the House bill to cut $100 million in spending this fiscal year, public schools, colleges and universities, the court system, general government agencies and health care programs are subject to the cutbacks, which range from about 1 percent to 5 percent. The House proposal heads to the Senate for consideration.

Legislators are trying to avoid heavy cuts in education and Medicaid spending as they try to deal with the shortfall, holding cuts in those areas to about 1 percent.

In the Senate on Thursday, Jan. 29, two measures were approved to scrape up money to help plug the shortfall. Lawmakers are dipping into the state's reserves and taking money from cash balances maintained by some agencies and programs. One bill also speeds up the payment of estimated corporate income tax payments — providing a one-time revenue booster. The Senate measures go next to the House.

Elements of Richardson's cuts in administration spending include: