On Wednesday (June 22), the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Gov. Susana Martinez was out of bounds when she altered the amount of money allocated for a housing program.
The New Mexico House of Representatives and Senate passed a bill authorizing the spending of $150,000 for the state’s low-income housing program. Martinez struck the number “1″ from the appropriation, reducing the amount to $50,000.
Lawmakers – even some Republicans — objected, saying the governor’s office does not have the right to reduce or add to an appropriation already passed by both houses of the legislature.
In Wednesday’s decision, the state Supreme Court ruled that the governor has the right to either accept or reject any such monetary figures, but not to change or alter the amounts.
The Martinez administration had argued that back in the 1930s , 40s and 50s, previous New Mexico governors had used partial vetoes to reduce appropriations. However, those actions were never challenged in court.
After the verdict, Senate majority leader Michael Sanchez (D-Belen) and chairman of the Legislative Finance Committee, Sen. John Arthur Smith (D-Deming) released a statement:
“Today’s ruling is a victory for our constitution and the people of New Mexico. The principle of separation of powers is the cornerstone of our government. The balance of power is equally divided among the three branches of government and the court’s decision reaffirmed this by preserving the legislature’s exclusive appropriating authority.”
Spokesman for Gov. Martinez, Scott Darnell, told Associated Press that the governor’s vetoes had “protected taxpayers from “higher taxes and excessive spending.”
“The court has now given guidance that the only way for the governor to prevent these types of excessive spending measures is to veto the entire amount. The governor is hopeful that the Legislature will work with her to prevent such vetoes from becoming necessary in the future,” said Darnell.
There is still one other case concerning vetoes before the high court — one in which Martinez rejected a $128 million tax increase on businesses to pay for unemployment benefits. Lawmakers argue that the unemployment bill (HB59) does not allocate any money and that only a bill that specifically calls for spending is eligible for a partial veto from the governor’s office.
The unemployment program is projected to run out of money in early 2012, and the higher taxes were to take effect next January.
