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New Mexico Legislature Reaches Bipartisan Compromise On Budget

nmpolitics.net

  The New Mexico Legislature has sent a $6.3 billion budget plan to the governor that would boost spending on public schools, the criminal justice system, roadways and Medicaid in the coming fiscal year.

The House and Senate on Wednesday evening approved a compromise on disputed budge provisions.

New Mexico governor Susana Martinez can veto the budget line-by-line or in its entirety. The budget bill fulfills much of the governor's requests for greater spending on law enforcement salaries and prosecutors in the Albuquerque area.

In all, the budget bill would increase state general fund spending by 4 percent. It includes base pay increases for public school teachers and all state workers. A rebound in the oil sector is shoring up state government finances after two years of austerity measures.