How Education Funding Could Change In New Mexico -
By Cedar Attanasio Associated Press/Report For America
The New Mexico Legislature is expected to increase near-term education funding and pursue long-term reforms that will change how schools are funded.
Education accounts for about half of the approximately $7 billion in general funds that lawmakers will haggle over during the 60-day legislative session that started Tuesday.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and legislative researchers have recommended increases in education funding to overcome learning losses and enrollment declines caused by the pandemic.
Lawsuits targeting the state s school funding formula also are creating legal pressure for spending increases.
LAS CRUCES - Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham broke with tradition and dispensed with the annual state of the state address Tuesday, Jan. 19, on the opening day of the New Mexico Legislature’s 60-day session amid concerns for both COVID-19 and potential civil disruptions.
But her to-do list for lawmakers is no secret. These are the governor’s top priorities for this year’s session, and the legislation that has been introduced to achieve them: Expand the Small Business Recovery Act passed in the June special session by providing an additional $100 million in federal funding for small business grants.
No bill filed yet. The bill passed last June provided $400 million from the Severance Tax Fund to provide loans for small businesses, but many business owners were reluctant to take on additional debt. The new bill will provide $100 million for grants. Sen. Cliff Pirtle, R-Roswell, has pre-filed a separate bill to provide tax credits and a new fund to assist small businesses.
Credit Sen. George Munoz, D-Gallup LAS CRUCES - Sen. George Munoz, D-Gallup, has been named chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, replacing longtime leader John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, who was defeated in the Democratic primary last year.
Munoz survived his own primary challenge last year, and went on to win re-election to his fourth term. He had been serving as the committee’s vice chairman.
The Finance Committee takes the lead in drafting the annual budget, and typically has the final say on any spending bills before they get to the Senate floor. New senators Crystal Diamond, R-Truth or Consequences, and Siah Correa Hemphill, D-Silver City, were both named as committee members, as were southern New Mexico senators Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces and William Burt, R-Alamogordo.
LSU dropped its second game in three weeks on Saturday with a 45-41 loss at Missouri. Photo Courtesy of CBS Sports. The LSU Tigers return a familiar face. Jorge Munoz will return to the Tigers football program as an analyst. In a radio interview with WWL radio on Monday, LSU head coach Ed Orge .