NM Capital Outlay Bill Passes - $400,000 for C&TS

Whew! In the special session of the NM Legislature just completed, the Capital Outlays bill (HB 5) passed both houses. The bill includes an appropriation of $400,000 for "trackwork rehabilitation and improvements" for the C&TS. Now it's off to the Governor who is likely to keep the C&TS funding intact because he originally requested $1 million for the railroad.

There are two fair questions that one can raise: the first is whether the money is restricted just to trackwork? Probably not because similar language in past appropriations has been interpreted broadly.

The second question is why the cut from $1 million to $400,000? Clearly, the state is in a real budget squeeze, but the Commission's difficult meeting in Santa Fe, which was much publicized, didn't help. If long-time lobbyist and former Commissioner Carl Turner were still alive you can bet he would have handled the situation differently and kept any controversy under wraps until after any money bills were signed into law.

In addition to the $400,000, the railroad also received a slightly reduced appropriation of $94,000 toward the operation of the Commission's office (down from $100,000 in the recent past).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/2010 10:02AM by Dick Cowles.