Session Wrap

March 1,2004

Dear Friends, Neighbors and Constituents,

High Noon on February 19 marked the end of the busy 2004 legislative session. I am happy to report that our major mission was accomplished in spite of some difficult financial challenges. During the last days of the session we sent a $4.4 billion budget up to the Governor’s office, which appropriates $47 million for education reform including a 2% salary increase for all school employees. It maintains funding for art and music programs and implements the next stage of full day kindergarten.

Although the budget does not fully fund the Medicaid program, as many of us had hoped, the reductions are not as deep as many had feared at the start of the session. There are no cuts in eligibility, few benefit reductions, and the reimbursement cuts to providers have been kept to a minimum. The legislature raised additional revenue for the program through a premium tax increase and surcharges on nursing home beds. These “bed taxes” are offset with tax credits for those residents of nursing homes who are not Medicaid recipients-and the rest of the revenue is matched in Washington to provide three times the amount raised here.

The budget also contains pay increases of 2% for state employees and higher education, as well as $4 million in additional funding for the people with developmental disabilities.

A bill to remove the taxes on food and medical services passed during the final minutes of the session amidst high drama, the reduction is a mixed blessing since the gross receipts tax on everything else will rise by 1/2 of 1% to make up for the lost revenue.

As you may have seen on the news, tougher DWI laws and controls on the explosion of “meth labs” were major efforts this session. We emerged with a package of bills that will correct the technical errors made last year in the DWI package and go forward with additional protections for the public.

Bosque protection has been a major priority for me this session, given last summer’s fire and drought. I owe great deal thanks to the Albuquerque Fire Department and the many firemen from around the state who traveled here to support my ban on the use and sale of fireworks during times of extreme drought. Unfortunately, this bill was killed earlier in the session, but I am not giving up. I’ve been able to secure additional funding for bosque restoration projects and for a special “brush” fire truck that can be used to fight bosque fires. I also passed a bill to allow the Natural Resources Trustee to use money he now has in his fund for even more bosque clean up projects. To coordinate these and other bosque projects, I’ve allocated $30,000 to convene a bosque council of overlapping public managers and volunteers working on re-seeding and other projects.

The bill I was carrying for the Governor and the Health and Human Services Committee to establish a Health Care Purchasing Authority to consolidate all the health insurance programs for public employees foundered on the shoals of opposition from the Retiree Health Insurance Authority. Although we substantially changed the bill to address concerns of the folks who feared their premiums or funds would be affected, everyone was just too nervous to allow us to make any changes. This was disappointing to me, since I believe that if we do nothing—all of us (including public employees and retirees) are going to experience much higher premiums and more and more people will drop in to huge ranks of the uninsured in New Mexico.

I was successful in extending the life of a measure I passed several years ago to require insurance companies to cover the medical expenses of cancer patients undergoing clinical trials.
The clock ran out on my bill to require safety standards for All Terrain Vehicles. Safety advocates, ATV dealers and enthusiasts, the Tourism and Health Departments, as well as MVD all came together on this measure and we will be back next year.

Meanwhile, back on the home front, I have secured $1.8 million in capital outlay funds for schools, museums, trails and neighborhood improvements.

Thanks again to those of you who visited, wrote, e-mailed and called me during the session. Most of all thanks to those of you who filled out my survey and sent me additional comments.

Happy Leap Year! I hope you used your extra day boldly—with a leap of faith! As always, I am proud to serve you in Santa Fe

With Warmest Regards,

Dede Feldman