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February 21, 2010
Guest:
Trip Jennings, Senior Writer, NewMexicoIndependent.com, and Steve
Terrell, Political Reporter, Santa Fe New Mexican, join host Lorene Mills for an insiders’
discussion of the major issues of this 30-Day Legislative session.
These 3 journalists, Terrell, Jennings, and Mills (with over 60 combined years of political
reporting between them) discuss this legislative session and how it differs from other sessions -
the issues, the mood, and the dynamics. Terrell and Jennings explain the hot button topics of the
budget, tax increases, spending cuts, and ethics reform. They explore the future of news and
journalism, and the use of new media such as blogs and web newspapers, as well as the challenge
of informing our citizens and encouraging them to become more involved with their government. |
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February 14, 2010
Guest:
Senator John Arthur Smith (D- District 35,Hidalgo, Luna, and Sierra
Counties), Chairman of the New Mexico Senate Finance Committee.
During this difficult 30-Day Session of the Legislature, there is one central Senator who figures
in almost all discussions about state finances, the budget, taxing and/or spending. That is Senator
Smith, whose senate committee is the portal through which all legislation pertaining to money
must pass. A fiscal conservative, Smith is dedicated to the fact that our state must (by law)
operate with a balanced budget, and his pursuit of that necessity with its requisite cuts has earned
him the nickname "Dr. No." Since through his years of warnings about our budget problems he
has been proven right time and again, he also goes by the nickname "Dr. Know."
This indepth interview helps us understand what is happening to our state's finances, how we got
here, and what are the choices available to us. This will affect all New Mexicans. This is not an
abstract theoretical discussion. This will affect how much money people have in their wallets
after taxes and what state services may or may not be available to them. |
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February 06, 2010
Guest:
Senator Dede Feldman (D-Bernalillo) and Senator Rod Adair (R-Chaves
& Lincoln), who discuss the challenges of this Budget Session of the Legislature, and the
difficulty of balancing cuts and expenditures. Feldman is a member of the Better Choices
Coalition whose goal is to be sure the budget cuts don't always fall on the backs of working
middle class families. Adair looks at the budget crisis as an opportunity for the state to
"downsize" the size of state government. Other topics include ethics reform, restructuring
Medicaid, sin taxes, domestic violence prevention, the $5 million dollars per year the state pays
for lawyers' fees in the 22 year old Jackson lawsuit concerning care for the developmentally
disabled, and common sense solutions to the state's economic crisis.
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January 31, 2010
Guest:
Representative Brian Egolf ( D - Santa Fe), Representative Keith
Gardner, ( R -Roswell), Minority Whip in the NM House, and Jerry Walker, Executive
Director of the Independent Community Bankers Association of New Mexico.
The two Representatives discuss the legislative session and Gardner and Egolf’s bills
in support of webcasting, transparency, and ethics. They explore Egolf’s bill to take New
Mexico’s $1.4 billion dollar appropriations account and move that money in a safe and
responsible way from the large national banks and put it into community banks that are based
here in New Mexico which would have a beneficial effect on the New Mexico economy and
provide loans to New Mexico citizens and businesses. This is an extremely popular local
application of the Move Your Money national movement, see www.MoveYourMoney.info.
Then Jerry Walker, Executive Director of the Independent Community Bankers Association of
New Mexico, describes the role of independent community banks and credit unions in driving
local economies in New Mexico.
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January 23, 2010
Guest:
Representative Luciano ““Lucky””
Varela ( D - Santa Fe County), Chair of the Legislative Finance
Committee and Deputy Chair of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee,
and Representative Tom Taylor, ( R - San Juan County)
Republican Floor Leader, New Mexico House of Representatives. Rep.Varela shares
his fiscal expertise in addressing the state’’s budget crisis, and suggests
ways we can balance income and expenditures to deal with our budget shortfall.
Rep.Taylor discusses the opportunity the budget crisis represents for the state
to evaluate the necessity of programs and prioritize its expenditures. Taylor
provides an in-depth analysis of the oil and gas situation in San Juan County,
and how that effects the rest of the state. Varela and Taylor provide clear
insights into the problems New Mexico faces and give us behind-the-scenes information
to use in watching this crucial 30-Day Legislative Session as it unfurls.
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