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REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP STATEMENT

ON SPECIAL SESSION BUDGET VOTE

SANTA FE – Following the late night floor vote of House Bill 2, the budget bill, House Republican Leadership issued the following statement:

“Going into the wee hours of the morning, the House of Representatives finally voted on a budget. Some will say that this budget is balanced, but it is not,” commented Representative Tom Taylor, House Republican Leader. “We started off the session with the budget having a $230 million deficit and still have a budget with a $230 million deficit even after the vote early this morning. Clearly some folks are not interested in truly solving our budget problems.”

“House Republicans introduced a series of amendments that came to a total of over $350 million plus in budget savings to the state of New Mexico, with no negative impact to education,” said Representative Keith Gardner, House Republican Whip. “Unfortunately many members of the House are more interested in massive government spending and balancing the budget on the backs of hard working New Mexicans instead of real solutions to our budget problems. Massive overspending is what got us into this problem in the first place, and we continue to do so with this budget.”

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                                                 The House passed the budget.  WHAT NEXT?

Santa Fe – Upon the passage of the FY2011 New Mexico State Budget (HB2), Rep. Tom Taylor (San Juan) and Rep. Keith Gardner (Chaves, Eddy, Lea, Roosevelt) issued the following statements.
 
“It is irresponsible for the House to pass the budget with a $310 million deficit built in. It is even more irresponsible to address that reduction through tax increases to New Mexico’s hardworking families.  This session, Republicans introduced numerous measures to cut costs to taxpayers and unfortunately all of them were voted down by Democrats,” said Republican Leader Tom Taylor. 
 
“To compound the problem, there are a lot of temporary dollars in this bill.  Temporary tax increases are burdensome because they are tax increases that later go away and leave government thirsty.  They are also burdensome because they add a variable to the landscape and make it more difficult for individuals, families, and businesses to plan.  For someone who looks beyond the tip of their nose, it is clear that the legislature is going to have to revisit these same issues next year unless we solve this problem now,” Taylor continued. 
 
“We entered this session with a $200 million defecit and in a little under a month it has grown to $310 million.  Fortunately, there is still time to fix this problem.  We are only done with the first half of the budget process,” said House Republican Whip Keith Gardner.  “As the budget bill moves to the Senate, we are counting on our colleagues there pick up the torch of budget savings and responsible fiscal policy.  We must avoid raising taxes and instead make careful spending cuts.”
 
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January 19, 2010                                                                             (505) 216-6342

House Republican Leadership Comments on the State of the State Address

Santa Fe – Today in response to Gov. Richardson’s State of the State address, the House Republican leaders offered the following statements.

 “It is easy to have a number of real and perceived improvements in the state of New Mexico when your expenditures are greater than your revenues,” said House Republican Leader Tom Taylor (San Juan).  “In previous years even in the face of obvious declining revenues, there was little action. This year can be the one to change that pattern.”

 “Let’s remember that our state’s budget is not in bad shape because of economy, it is in bad shape because of reckless overspending.  By making smart choices and exercising proper restraint we can put our state’s budget back on track,” said House Republican Whip Keith Gardner (Chaves, Eddy, Lea, Roosevelt).

 “In tallying the list of priorities: a balanced budget, justice system reform, education improvement, it is clear that never have there been better opportunities for bi-partisan cooperation,” said House Republican Caucus Leader Anna Crook (Curry).

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