Let’s Talk New Mexico 1/20 8am: The New Mexico legislature gets together en masse once a year, for 30 days in even-numbered years and 60 days in odd-numbered years. With such a limited time to meet this time around, their primary duty is to create a budget for next fiscal year. However, the governor has the power to add to the legislative agenda, and among her priorities are making the state a future hub for hydrogen energy, creating a “Media Academy” in our higher education landscape to develop talent for film and other media projects, investments in education and rural healthcare, and a push to become carbon neutral by 2050.
There are many ways to invest for a better future for New Mexicans, and for once in a long while there’s a fairly large amount of money in the bank thanks to higher than expected gross receipts and oil and gas tax revenue, and federal dollars that have been funneled to states. Which priorities would you suggest lawmakers push the hardest? Are we better off spreading the money among a lot of projects or just picking a few to fund heavily? With so many urgent problems like crime and pandemic pandemonium, do you think it’s justified to invest now for the long term?
Share your ideas about the budget and spending priorities by emailing LetsTalk@kunm.org, tweet #letstalkNM or call in live during the show.
GUESTS
- David Abbey, Legislative Finance Committee Director
- Dan Boyd, Albuquerque JournalCapitol Bureau Chief
- Lindsay Fendt, Searchlight New Mexico environmental reporter
- Andy Lyman, NM Political Report reporter
- Shaun Griswold, Source New Mexico reporter
RELATED READING
- New Mexico Legislative Guide, Albuquerque Journal
- Ignoble Gas, Searchlight New Mexico
- Legislating for Results: Policy and Performance Analysis, Legislative Finance Committee
- NM Legislature gearing up to crack down on crime, Santa Fe New Mexican
- Proposed teacher raises would make New Mexico competitive, Associated Press/Albuquerque Journal
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This public service is part of our Your New Mexico Government project, a collaboration between KUNM radio and New Mexico PBS. Support for public media provided by the Thornburg Foundation.
