“I ask that, in every decision, we will choose courage over comfort, change over stagnation, reform over the status quo,” Martinez said, opening this year’s 60-day legislative session. “Choose the courageous route, paved with policies that will outlast each of us and fundamentally improve New Mexico.”
During this session lawmakers will come up with a $6.3 billion budget for the year beginning July 1 as well as introduce bills on topics of their choice.
Martinez said she plans to seek approval on initiatives that have been met with Democratic opposition in previous years. However, she called for lawmakers to set aside politics and think of what will be best for New Mexico’s children in the long run. These initiatives include holding back third-graders who are unable to read proficiently and repealing the law that gives drivers licenses to illegal immigrants.
Martinez began outlining her priorities by proposing a $50 million closing fund for economic development projects in order to incentivize companies to move to New Mexico.
UNM President Robert Frank said he hopes this effort could expand to help small companies here at home, through initiatives like UNM’s own small business incubator Innovate ABQ.
Martinez also called for the Right to Work legislation to pass, which she said would give employees the right to decide whether or not to join a union. Pro-labor Democrats have already stated their opposition to any such legislation.
Martinez said the state also needs stronger incentives for the creation of technology jobs.
“Governor Martinez is on target when she says we have all the necessary pieces to make New Mexico a high tech jobs leader,” Frank said. “At UNM, we can help kids become scientists and provide them with the education they need to work in our national labs, to create innovative companies, to solve complex problems and enrich the lives of all New Mexicans.”
The majority of Martinez’s address centered on education reform. She mentioned controversial teacher evaluations, proposed mentoring programs for struggling teachers and proposed a raise of new teachers’ salaries by $2,000 a year. Martinez said that all teachers should be equipped with a $100 prepaid debit card to use for school supplies rather than spending money out of their own pockets.
“I firmly believe that education is the road that will lead out of poverty for each New Mexico child, for each struggling family, and for our state as a whole,” Martinez said. “Today’s circumstances do not have to be tomorrow’s circumstances.”
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Martinez linked many students’ disinterest in schoolwork and habitual truancy to the inability to read well, and proposed legislation that would not allow truant students to obtain their drivers licenses.
In addition, she said efforts to stop child abuse should be re-doubled. Seven new advocacy centers should be established where CYFD caseworkers and police officers could work on cases side by side, she said. Martinez also proposed a loan repayment program where the state would pay a portion of a caseworkers’ student loans in exchange for their service.
In closing, she called up two teenage victims of the Roswell school shooting and stated that she gives them her support.
The governor did not mention the looming state budget shortfall resulting from falling oil prices. This issue is especially important to UNM, since a portion of the University’s budget has traditionally come from state revenue.
At the first Board of Regents meeting this year, Frank projected a $4.7 million budget deficit for UNM this year, based largely on the falling state revenue.
“We recognize that this will be a challenging session for the governor and the legislature in dealing with an ever-shrinking budget,” Frank said. “We look forward to working with them as they resolve these complex issues.”
Marielle Dent is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at mdent@unm.edu or on Twitter @Marielle_Dent.
