cannabisnews.com: NM Governor Looking To Leave His Mark NM Governor Looking To Leave His Mark Posted by FoM on January 05, 2002 at 15:48:34 PT By The Associated Press Source: Dallas Morning News Time and money are running out for Gov. Gary Johnson. The Republican governor's term expires at the end of the year, and the upcoming 30-day session of the Legislature offers him a chance to leave a lasting imprint on state policies and programs. The governor's wish list hasn't changed. He will renew proposals that have failed before in the Democratic-led Legislature: school vouchers, legalizing the medical use of marijuana, decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana, and eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for some drug-related crimes. "What I hope the legacy ends up being is, 'You know what, I wasn't afraid to address the issues. I wasn't afraid to do the things that needed to be done,' " Mr. Johnson said recently. However, a weakening of New Mexico's economy is likely to prevent him from accomplishing one of the things he had hoped for during his eight-year tenure: a permanent, across-the-board reduction in personal income taxes. "It's probably killed my chances to get an income-tax reduction," Mr. Johnson said. Lawmakers and the governor will confront a bleak financial situation when the Legislature convenes Jan. 15. There's little "new money" available for budget increases or tax cuts. Revenues next year are projected to exceed spending by only $8 million. During 30-day sessions, the Legislature's agenda is limited by the state Constitution to budget and tax matters and issues designated by the governor. "Education will still be on the front burner and so will health care," said House Speaker Ben Lujan, D-Santa Fe. A priority for education groups is finding money in the $3.9 billion budget for pay raises for teachers: nearly $14 million for each 1 percent increase. Mr. Johnson wants to revamp the governing structure for education and create a Cabinet-level secretary of education. The Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce also will promote a package of education initiatives, including a proposal to reduce the size of the state Board of Education and, like Mr. Johnson, have the governor appoint a secretary of education. Senate GOP Leader Stuart Ingle of Portales said the scramble for money will be fierce. One option for saving money, he said, is to slow the implementation of full-day kindergarten across the state. "At one time $4 million or $5 million wasn't too much when we talk about money up here sometimes," said Ingle. "I think this year anything in the millions of dollars is going to be some money." Medicaid is at the center of a looming health care debate. The program pays for medical services for the poor, disabled, and more than 200,000 uninsured children. The governor wants the Legislature to slow the growth in Medicaid spending by restricting benefits and eligibility. It's a proposal that faces trouble in the Legislature. Mr. Johnson and legislative leaders predict a flat budget for state government next year, but that could change if the economy worsens and revenue projections drop. Faced with a downturn in revenues in 1996, the Legislature and Mr. Johnson trimmed an average of 2.5 percent from most agency budgets. Despite lower-than-expected revenues, the state remains financially healthy because of large cash reserves. Those have swelled partly because of Mr. Johnson's vetoes of spending and tax proposals passed by the Legislature. Revenues stood at nearly $390 million at the start of the budget year – equal to about 10 percent of spending. Some in the Legislature want to dip into those balances to help pay for spending increases next year. That could become one of the main budget disputes between Mr. Johnson and Democrats. Mr. Johnson has vowed to veto proposals that lower the reserves below 8 percent to 9 percent of spending. "I'll bet I go down blazing," he predicted about vetoes in his final year in office. Senate President Richard Romero, D-Albuquerque, said the threat of vetoes will keep Mr. Johnson's power from diminishing during the upcoming legislative session. "He is still the governor, and he can still veto. I don't pay much attention to the lame-duck situation," Mr. Romero said. Note: Education, health care, taxes top Republican's agenda for next session. Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)Published:, January 6, 2002Copyright: 2002 The Dallas Morning NewsWebsite: http://www.dallasnews.com/Contact: letterstoeditor dallasnews.comRelated Articles & Web Site:Governor Gary Johnson's Home Pagehttp://www.governor.state.nm.us/Advocates Gear Up for Drug-Reform Pushhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11690.shtmlGary Johnson's Visit to the Drug Policy Forumhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11555.shtml END SNIP --> Snipped Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #3 posted by lookinside on January 06, 2002 at 17:14:44 PT: lehder... my condolences...what a waste...i'm curious about something...who really controls new mexico?big business? big agriculture? where does the tax money go?it sounds like whoever controls things either dropped the ball big time, or prefers the present situation... [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Lehder on January 06, 2002 at 16:41:48 PT New Mexico: Land of Ignorance All of Albuquerque, like Gaul, is divided into two hundred and seventy parts; each part is harassed by a gang of eighteen to thirty cap-backward, window-busting, screwdriver-toting punks aged thirteen to twenty-two. These gangs derive their livelihoods by selling drugs. They gangs could not exist without a War on Drugs. Yet their members make enough money to never think about school or work and have no motivation to get educated or even go to sleep at night so they can get up to go to school or work. These kids make a living selling marijuana, crack and speed, thanks to the War on Drugs. The Central avenue sidewalk is too filthy for old shoes and when you've finished all five biographies of Lucille Ball there's not much left to do in the downtown library that opens a little later each year, now not until 10:30 AM. New Mexico has the highest rate of drunkeness and drunk driving in the country and if you move there your auto insurance rate will double because fewer than half the drivers hold any insurance at all, and if you drive after dark you'll be stopped at a roadblock and asked how much you've had to drink. Until two years ago, you could buy your booze at "drive-up windows" - the same way you get your burgers at McD's. We can hope for best from the New Mexico legislature, but last year's effort to decriminalize marijuana was shot down with the usual scare and propaganda tactics. Instead of decriminalizing marijuana, the legislature voted to maintain cock fighting as a legal sport in New Mexico; it voted to introduce alcohol sales in the public museums, and it voted to allow the carrying of concealed handguns. So an upstanding citizen can get shit-faced at the museum and carry a pistol to the cock fights to protect his wagers. But if you're a student studying quantum mechanics quietly in your apartment and want to take a break with a relaxing reefer then you're subject to arrest and expulsion.If you rent an apartment in Albuquerque, God Luck, and I hope you like loud music - day and night. I hope you like the endless ruccus of fighting and alcoholic yelling through the walls and super loud televisions blaring through your ceiling, and god help you if you want to quietly read a book. Because the policies of the New Mexico legislature demotivate people and hold the people in ignorance: they promote drinking and discourage reading, and the money that ought to be used to offer decent treatment for alcoholism and for buying decent books for the library is spent on narcs who watch pot deals on the street and on cops to patrol the library because there's so many homeless drunks in there and few readers.Now if you like cockroaches, Albuquerque is the city for you. If you're really lucky you might live in a house so that the cockroaches don't come through your apartment wall along with the 24/7 loud music; no, in your new house they'll come through the sewer and into your home through the drains and toilet and crawl over your silverware at night and lay their eggs on your damp washcloth because the city is too busy chasing potheads to do any more than to maintain a single employee who goes about town spraying a few drops of bug killer into each sewer about once every six months. If the city's seven narcs were given bug killer and assigned the useful work of killing sewer vermin then maybe decent people could live in Albuquerque with being sickened at the sight of bugs on their lunches every time they turned their backs for a few seconds. You would think that with one of the highest state tax rates in the country - the 8% rape of personal income kicks in at a measly $65,000 - that New Mexico would have a few services. But most of that money is spent on the cities' overcrowded jails which overflow into tent prisons on the west mesa and on a corrupt highway department that fixes and fixes and refixes the already fixed streets and puts good businesses out of business with its eternal orange-barrel barriers around restaurants, stores and roach-infested offices.Georgia O'Keefe lived near Abiqui, New Mexico for forty years because she perceived that the colors there - the mountains of every color and the red rocks, the amazing perpetually clear sky - were somehow more lifelike or vibrant than in other parts of the world, like the bigger than life bright flowers that she painted. I know she was right, because when I stand beneath that clear sky and behold the extraordinary landscape, everywhere else I'd ever been seemed only a picture postcard and not a land that can be experienced. Better than the tropical paradises, New Mexico presents four seasons, yet bad weather is so rare that it is enjoyed as a novelty and the clear skies are spangled with brilliant, quietly floating hot air balloons. The brief summer storms are so spectacular that people step outside to watch and go oooooooohhhh and aaaaaaaaaaahhhh with each ragged bolt of lightning the way you do when you watch the fireworks on the fourth of July. "Hey, did you see the lightning show last night?" That's what storms are called in New Mexico - "Lightning Shows." New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment. I wish I had not been forced to leave and I hope to one day return when the people there, and their legislators, can learn their own potential and live in harmony with the natural gifts they are blessed with. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Nuevo Mexican on January 05, 2002 at 21:12:19 PT It sure is nice.... having Gov Johnson in office. He is the light at the end of the tunnel in the war on drug users and Cannabis in particular. The future is bright for this man, as his legacy will be a lasting one, not a disgrace and an embarassment to all Americans and the world as well, like the boy king is. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment