Gov prepares for battle over education cuts

Posted at: 10/19/2009 5:12 PM | Updated at: 10/19/2009 8:47 PM
By: Gadi Schwartz, Eyewitness News 4; Matthew Kappus, KOB.com

Gov. Bill Richardson says he wants to limit education cuts to 1.5 percent

Gov. Bill Richardson says he has budged as much as he’s going to when it comes to cuts in education.

After saying he wouldn’t sign a bill that took money from the classroom, the governor announced he would support a 1.5 percent cut. But state lawmakers have a much different idea of what needs to be done to deal with the state’s biggest revenue shortfall ever.

Representative Lucky Varela says a bill making its way through the house could shore up close to half of the state’s $660 million shortfall. But it would take 3 percent out of the state’s education budget.

Because the bill was just introduced, many of the numbers have yet to be crunched. But Santa Fe Public Schools say preliminary calculations would mean $5 million to $6 million would be taken out of their already slim budget.

That could hit classrooms hard, and the proposal  faces resistance from the governor and school officials like Santa Fe School Board President Angelica Ruiz.

"This school board has discussed school closures in the past and with a cut of that magnitude impending for our district, we would have to put that back on the table and look at the potential for additional cuts,” Ruiz said.

The proposed bill would also cut 4 percent to higher education and school transportation costs by about 6.5 percent.

The House rules committee decided Monday that tax increases could not be considered because Gov. Bill Richardson did not put them on the agenda for the special session.

A Senate committee had ruled the same way a day earlier. Some lawmakers insist that tax increases should be part of the plan to plug a $650 million hole in this year's state budget.

Otherwise, they say, cuts to public schools and social services will be too deep. The governor says a discussion of taxes can wait until the regular session in January.

He said Monday he'll appoint a task force to come up with a comprehensive revenue package in the next few months.

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