Health care, taxes aren't enough, so guv adds roads to session agenda
Road construction won a vaunted spot on the agenda of a special legislative session that now appears to be only weeks away.
Gov. Bill Richardson on Thursday added 13 road projects worth $200 million to an already-packed agenda which includes health care reform, a tax rebate and a 10-day tax holiday in November.
The 13 high-priority road projects are among 29 the state transportation commission postponed late last year because of lack of funding. At the time, the state's $2.7 billion GRIP I program -- which stands for Gov. Richardson's Investment Partnership -- was short by half a billion dollars.
But eight months later, the state's revenues are looking healthy enough to suggest funding nearly half of these projects.
“When I took office, I made a commitment to improve the state’s highways, but inflation and federal funding issues forced us to put many projects on hold,” Richardson said in a press release. “Right now, we have the resources to finish what we started and improve highways that are the lifeline for thousands of New Mexicans.”
Let's not forget it's an election year, too.
The question is, Will state lawmakers go for Richardson larding up the agenda? Another question that some of the Legislature's financial types will ask is, Does New Mexico have the resources to complete the road projects, overhaul the state's health care system and give tax rebates -- as well as a new 10-day tax holiday -- to New Mexicans, all at the same time? Or will they decide it's a bunch of election-year grandstanding?
Stay tuned!
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