NM taxpayers spent nearly $8M on redistricting
Posted at: 08/02/2012 2:15 PM
By: BARRY MASSEY Associated Press
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - State records indicate that New Mexico taxpayers shelled out nearly $8 million for the politically divisive, once-a-decade task of drawing new boundaries for districts for the Legislature, Congress and other elected offices.
That easily exceeds the roughly $5 million in total costs for redistricting after the 2000 census.
According to records from the Legislature and Gov. Susana Martinez's administration, about $7.9 million was spent from start to finish on redistricting this time.
That figure covers a special legislative session last September, a legislative committee that held hearings around the state last summer, demographic work starting in 2008 to prepare for redistricting as well nearly $5.7 million in litigation costs after the map-drawing dispute ended up in court.
Some legislators contend a bipartisan commission should handle redistricting rather than the Legislature.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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