Lawmakers debate what to cut amid shortfall

New Mexico lawmakers headed back to the capitol Tuesday to try to solve the state's $650 million revenue shortfall, and it is looking more likely the solution will be found in budget cuts rather than tax increases.

[Budget]

Don't cut education. Cut the Rail Runner. The money used to operate the train that serves a few can help all the children of our state.

[Willothewisp]

It's like people who buy the biggest house, tons of furniture, cars, jewelry etc. They have all their credit cards to the max. They run from paycheck to paycheck. Ask them to cut back and they say they can't because they are just barely making it now. They NEED the money they make. Nothing to cut back on. Here it is worse. It is OPM. Other people's money and it is not real to them. No waste, nothing to cut? Everything essential, a necessity?

[Upda Hill]

People need to understand that the state is on the verge of going bankrupt, the consequences of which would truly be devastating to everyone. While $Bill and the legislature share responsibility for the crisis, pointing fingers doesn't solve the problem. Nor does an attitude of "cut everyone but me".

Most projects can be postponed until money is actually available. The state needs to stop spending money it doesn't have.

[FriendOfFamily]

The lawmakers should take the medicaid program into perspective and cut back on the usage. Years back I lived in California. The medicaid program there would allow a family 2 doctor visits and 1 emergency room vist per person per month. What the change in the deficit change with that alone. Leave the educators alone, the superintendents is where the cutback should occur. I understand our superintendent is making $200,000.! Tell me that's not crazy...and he's not teaching any of our childen!

[prickle]

bridges and opera rehearsal halls are MORE IMPORTANT THAN EDUCATION!?
what is wrong with this state?! seriously. New Mexico is so damn backwards in its thinking.

[Phooey]

How 'bout cutting their own jobs? They don't seem to be doing the job anyway....

[Cyclopath]

Phooey wrote:

How 'bout cutting their own jobs? They don't seem to be doing the job anyway....

You do realize, do you not, that when people lose their jobs, whether from the private sector or the public sector, that that adds to the unemployment rate? Who do you think state employees are...some aliens from another planet? They're just like your friends and neighbors who work at Wal-Mart or Smith's or Applebee's or in the service industry or manufacturing or anything else. I know it's very popular to say public servants are lazy and "don't seem to be doing the job anyway", but that's the easy thing to say for someone who obviously doesn't have a clue about what it takes to run state government. Sure, let's fire thousands of state workers...then "regular" people who are out of work will b-i-t-c-h even more when they can't get their unemployment payments in a timely manner because there aren't enough state employees around to service their needs...and you can carry that on into other public services.#1...don't be so darned shortsighted and #2...why does someone from Denver care anyway?

[skinwalker]

Democrats are backing off a proposal to tax condoms and contact lenses to pay for Health Care Reform. Of course that is a whole other problem if you need to wear contact lenses in order to put on a condom....

[Murphy]

Are you kidding? This state desperately needs reliable mass transit. Some minor cuts in public education may even have some good consequences like causing those over at APS to intelligently rethink their budget and become much more responsible.

Budget wrote:

Don't cut education. Cut the Rail Runner. The money used to operate the train that serves a few can help all the children of our state.

[Whisky River Crabb]

Cut them all!!!

Get rid of all the exempt employees the Blob has put on the public teat since he has been in office. Get rid of 1/3rd of the state highway workers that never do any work. Park the Failrunner, get rid of all it's "employees" and save a ton of money.

I don't know what to do with the Intergalatic Spaceport but do not put any more into it since it was a white elephant in the first place, a waste of at least $250 million of our tax dollars.

Get rid of one half of the school "superintendents" and their state vehicles in the rural parts of our state. Combine all school districts in the little towns scattered all over the eastern plains and western hill country with one superintendent taking care of as many schools as possible, up to 1000 students. And they do not need to be driving from school to school every day, it's the electronic age people! We have things called computers with email, fax machines and telephones that are much more efficient.

Quit buying computers for grade school kids! They don't need computers, they need teachers and books!

Dump the 3-year-old, 4-year-old and kindergarten programs! I have lived here all my life and there was no such thing when I started school, I started in the first grade. Public schools were never meant to be a daycare center for the lame and lazy that do not know how to make ends meet and take care of their own children.

Get rid of all the free breakfast programs! If a mother is so lazy she can't haul her fat butt out of bed early enough to feed her own child then she should not have children. I have four younger brothers and we never went to school hungry, mom got out of bed before 5 a.m. and fixed breakfast for our dad and us kids before we had to leave for work or school. And when there was not enough money go give us for lunch she made sure we all had a sack lunch so all you whiners out there quit crying about your kid being fed cheese sandwiches for lunch at school. I eat many a P&J or cheese sammiches when I was young and it didn't hurt me one bit.

Dump all the bi-lingual programs and most special-ed programs and the "teachers" that earn money for doing nothing. When we were young we had our own bi-lingual program. those of us that spoke English helped the kids that spoke Spanish and we both learned something without any interference from some overeducated dummy getting in the way.

The reason I added special-ed to this list is because schools are funded by how many kids have "special needs" which is total stupidity. The schools that have the most kids in special-ed or bi-lingual classes get the most money so all they do is hold children back that really do not need any kind of "special" class. And that is wrong, period. They are not only hurting the child, they are wasting our money because the funding formula is so screwed up.

The list goes on and on but space here limits what I can add. The main point is that government has no business taking care of children, that is what parents are supposed to do.

I pay more taxes per year than a lot of people make, unless they work for the government in this state, and I am getting tired of all the teat suckers complaining about they think they are getting the short end of the stick. It's time to grow up and get a life, take care of your own business including your children. My brothers and I may have grown up dirt poor in northern New Mexico but we didn't stay that way. Because we learned how to take care of ourselves and we learned how to read, write and do math. And that is something that the majority of kids graduating from school these days do not know how to do.

[SBailey]

With all the Pit Rules in NM...the Drilling has slowed down or haulted all together. The Oil Field is a HUGE revenue for New Mexico.
The pit rules have forced most companies to lay off, shut down and/or move to neighboring states..Like I've said a million times over..it ALLLLLL trickles down.
If the money makers aren't making money then taxes aren't being paid to keep NM afloat...Common sense really...

[Upda Hill]

Phooey wrote:

How 'bout cutting their own jobs? They don't seem to be doing the job anyway....

State legislators here don't get paid a salary, only an in-session per diem that hardly covers the expense of being in the capitol. So, while many of them may be worthy of being fired by the electorate, doing so wouldn't directly save any money.

[name withheld]

Tax, tax, tax, cut, cut, cut make up for the states poor investment practice. Clean up the states house before they clean ours.

[name withheld]

Upda Hill wrote:

<quoted text>
State legislators here don't get paid a salary, only an in-session per diem that hardly covers the expense of being in the capitol. So, while many of them may be worthy of being fired by the electorate, doing so wouldn't directly save any money.

They get paid in some way shape or form I can say they dont loose any money being in santa fe. They get money from the companies they work for IE paid for time off and so on plus their per diem and other qurks they dont mention.

[WorkingStiff]

How about we cut just one of those chins on Richardson. Bet it can feed everyone in the state for a month.

[Down South]

The legislature should override Big Bill's veto of the double dipping law. If we can repeal it, and NOT grandfather any one in, that would save hundreds of millions by removing these people who already are getting a pension.

That would trim the workforce and not put anyone on unemployment, because when you get a pension you don't get unemployment.

Does the legislature have the balls to do it?

Most of these double dippers are the exempt workers Big Bill has hired, so repeal double dipping and it is solved.

[INFIDEL]

Whisky River Crabb wrote:

Cut them all!!!
Get rid of all the exempt employees the Blob has put on the public teat since he has been in office. Get rid of 1/3rd of the state highway workers that never do any work. Park the Failrunner, get rid of all it's "employees" and save a ton of money.
I don't know what to do with the Intergalatic Spaceport but do not put any more into it since it was a white elephant in the first place, a waste of at least $250 million of our tax dollars.
Get rid of one half of the school "superintendents" and their state vehicles in the rural parts of our state. Combine all school districts in the little towns scattered all over the eastern plains and western hill country with one superintendent taking care of as many schools as possible, up to 1000 students. And they do not need to be driving from school to school every day, it's the electronic age people! We have things called computers with email, fax machines and telephones that are much more efficient.
Quit buying computers for grade school kids! They don't need computers, they need teachers and books!
Dump the 3-year-old, 4-year-old and kindergarten programs! I have lived here all my life and there was no such thing when I started school, I started in the first grade. Public schools were never meant to be a daycare center for the lame and lazy that do not know how to make ends meet and take care of their own children.
Get rid of all the free breakfast programs! If a mother is so lazy she can't haul her fat butt out of bed early enough to feed her own child then she should not have children. I have four younger brothers and we never went to school hungry, mom got out of bed before 5 a.m. and fixed breakfast for our dad and us kids before we had to leave for work or school. And when there was not enough money go give us for lunch she made sure we all had a sack lunch so all you whiners out there quit crying about your kid being fed cheese sandwiches for lunch at school. I eat many a P&J or cheese sammiches when I was young and it didn't hurt me one bit.
Dump all the bi-lingual programs and most special-ed programs and the "teachers" that earn money for doing nothing. When we were young we had our own bi-lingual program. those of us that spoke English helped the kids that spoke Spanish and we both learned something without any interference from some overeducated dummy getting in the way.
The reason I added special-ed to this list is because schools are funded by how many kids have "special needs" which is total stupidity. The schools that have the most kids in special-ed or bi-lingual classes get the most money so all they do is hold children back that really do not need any kind of "special" class. And that is wrong, period. They are not only hurting the child, they are wasting our money because the funding formula is so screwed up.
The list goes on and on but space here limits what I can add. The main point is that government has no business taking care of children, that is what parents are supposed to do.
I pay more taxes per year than a lot of people make, unless they work for the government in this state, and I am getting tired of all the teat suckers complaining about they think they are getting the short end of the stick. It's time to grow up and get a life, take care of your own business including your children. My brothers and I may have grown up dirt poor in northern New Mexico but we didn't stay that way. Because we learned how to take care of ourselves and we learned how to read, write and do math. And that is something that the majority of kids graduating from school these days do not know how to do.

Hmmmm?!?! From the sound of it you are one of those reactionary right wing nut case republicans. I like your ideas though. Every one sounds fairly well thought out. In a world gone mad sometimes the people who talk crazy are really the sane ones. Good luck and rant on. Maybe some day someone will listen.

[JosephOne]

Cut evolution programs...it isn't real anyway.

Cut abortion programs...it is murder anyway.

Cut gay marriage programs...it is sin anyway.

[speakUR2012]

looks like they are trying to cut water

[JosephOne]

Oh and make all government employees including senators and congress salaries minimum wage.