New Mexico must shore up budgets, state senator warns

SANTA FE – The state Senate’s financial guru says New Mexico’s finances are “in crisis,” and he is prodding the governor and legislative leaders to start planning for a special session to fill holes in the state budget before they get any deeper.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, said Thursday that the state is facing a deficit of more than $150 million for the budget year that ended June 30, along with prospects of a shortfall in the new budget year of between $300 million and $500 million.

Smith has urged Republican Gov. Susana Martinez to talk to legislative leaders to begin to outline solutions.

He suggests holding a special session as soon as August.

Read more: http://www.abqjournal.com/812585/nm-must-fix-budgets-state-senator-warns.html