Governor vetoes infrastructure bill as oil prices plummet (New Mexico)

The Albuquerque Journal ^ | March 9, 2020 | Dan Boyd

[CedarDave]

SANTA FE — A global oil price war had New Mexico lawmakers and other elected officials on edge Monday, as a prolonged price crash could zap a recent revenue boom and cause a state budget surplus to evaporate.

The uncertainty prompted Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to veto a spending bill that would have appropriated $49.5 million to fund 216 road projects statewide, including funding for bike paths, safety enhancements and median landscaping in Albuquerque.

“We do not yet know the degree to which (the coronavirus) and declining oil prices will impact our state’s economy,” Lujan Grisham wrote in her veto message of Senate Bill 232. “Given this uncertainty, I bear a heightened obligation to ensure that all significant expenditures constitute a demonstrably sound investment in New Mexico.”

The stunning oil price decline also comes as Lujan Grisham is nearing a Wednesday deadline to act on a $7.6 billion budget bill — one that’s largely reliant on oil-generated revenue — that calls for a $536 million increase in year-over-year spending during the coming fiscal year.

New Mexico’s most recent revenue estimates pegged oil prices for the budget year that ends in June to average $52 per barrel. Just a $1 change in the average annual New Mexico price of oil has an impact of roughly $22 million on the state general fund.

Republican lawmakers, who railed against high spending levels during this year’s 30-day legislative session, suggested Monday the plummeting oil prices had validated their concerns.

“This is just another example of why we needed to be more prudent with our expenditures,” House Minority Leader James Townsend, R-Artesia, said in a Monday interview. He also said earlier in the day that “Santa Fe progressives” had refused to listen to concerns about a possible oil drilling bust.

[CedarDave]

Taxes and royalties on oil and natural gas accounted for roughly 36% of New Mexico’s total revenue last year, according to the NM Legislative Finance Committee.

[CedarDave]

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[Balding_Eagle]

Oh no, can’t risk the State Employees benefits.

[Paladin2]

"...median landscaping..."

Critical infrastructure?

[Trump.Deplorable]

Wait, don’t pave the roads because of Cornyvirus?

These people are nuts

[SpaceBar]

The dems under Lujan-Grisholm have been salivating over those petro dollars to fund their pet lefty projects since she got in office. Note: no public retirement pensions or bennies have been harmed in making this message.

[SpaceBar]

It’s an open secret in NM that the roads are shoddily constructed by low-bid govt cronies, who will get the contracts in a few years to repair their own mess. The land of enchantment is really the land of orange cones and detours.

[Paladin2]

Based on a couple of decades of vacation experiences in NM a couple of decades ago, the place seemed to be a very large Texas State Park.

As such, Texas should be funding the roads...

[CharleysPride]

North Dakota will be the big loser in all this, state wise.

[LegendHasIt]

I’ll have to admit that I am surprised she vetoed any spending bills at all, that she let a temporary reality intrude on her building her leftist utopia.

[crusty old prospector]

I just drove from Hobbs to Carlsbad and then up to Artesia. I see a lot of new motels, restaurants, and such that are about to go bankrupt.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

You times are hard when you cut funding for the bike paths and median landscaping.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

You KNOW times are hard...

Sheesh, POF. Do some proofing of your work.

[aposiopetic]

We've all been there, or at least I have, on the proofing thing.

And, yes, hopefully the state can survive without median beautification.

[Lean-Right]

“We do not yet know the degree to which (the coronavirus) and declining oil prices will impact our state’s economy,”

Declining oil prices are not due
to the coronavirus. They are due
to Saudi Arabia and Russia. The
Dems once again have found
something to blame president
Trump for. Another big lie.

[CedarDave]

"...median landscaping..." Critical infrastructure?

That's the ABQ Urinal for you. Funds for the cities of ABQ, Santa Fe and Las Cruces include those not-so critical needs. Where the funds are critical are roads in the oil patch. All are narrow two lane with no passing lanes or county roads with no place to pull over for a wide load. What pavement is still there is pot-holed and 18-wheelers moving in the other direction throw up rocks. At night you travel slower to avoid foot deep holes but the big trucks don't slow and will crawl up your tail or pass dangerously throwing rocks against the windshield. No overpasses or even traffic lights. Four-way stop signs cause backups approaching a mile.

Meanwhile, the Dem Gov has the budget bill and can line-item remove funds to districts with Pub legislators while rewarding her Dem friends, teachers and state employees.

[moehoward]

The shock is that it took twelve posts for someone to mention the bike paths

[Buckeye McFrog]

A Democrat exercising common sense and rational judgment? Stop the Presses!

[SunkenCiv]

A global oil price war had New Mexico lawmakers and other elected officials on edge Monday, as a prolonged price crash could zap a recent revenue boom and cause a state budget surplus to evaporate. The uncertainty prompted Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to veto a spending bill...