Republican Gov. Susana Martinez is proposing a 4 percent spending increase next year for state programs and public education. Martinez failed to include the one percent pay increase for state workers proposed by the Legislative Finance Committee. Martinez outlined a nearly $5.9 billion budget proposal on Thursday that is similar in other ways to the broad spending recommendations made a day earlier by the LFC.
The governor's proposal calls for a $232 million increase in spending on public schools, higher education and general government operations ranging from prisons to health care for the poor. That's very close to the LFC recommendation of a $233 million increase. However, budget disagreements usually involve spending on detailed programs.
One potential area of disagreement with the Democratic-controlled Legislature is the governor's push for tax cuts for corporations as an economic development incentive.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.