New Mexico ' News broke that Governor Martinez spent the first part of this week in Tennessee while she has more than 200 bills on her desk and only until Friday to sign them. Meanwhile acting governor, Lt. Governor John Sanchez took no responsibility to sign legislation that would increase opportunities for New Mexicans across the state.
"Governor Martinez clearly does not respect our state ' instead of doing her job, the Governor leaves the state in the hands of Lieutenant Governor Sanchez, who follows lock step in her reckless policy decisions," said DPNM Chairwoman Debra Haaland. "Democrats passed bills that focus on job creation, improving education, creating opportunity for New Mexico businesses, and putting our state on better economic footing; these bills need attention before the deadline."
While legislators were hard at work during the 60-day session this year, Governor Martinez was in Utah on a ski trip, instead of doing her job. And since then, the Governor has avoided doing her job, irresponsibly threatening to shutdown state government and furlough state employees who have families that rely on their income. Lieutenant Governor John Sanchez echoed Governor Martinez's irresponsible stance instead of voicing support for budget that includes important revenues that mitigate cuts to public schools, health care, and other critical services.
Martinez and Sanchez refuse to heed the warning that Moody's analytics sent to other states when the Republican Kansas Governor vetoed important revenue increases and gave them a negative credit rating. A lower credit rating leads to a waste of taxpayer dollars by increasing the cost of important infrastructure projects that lead to economic development and opportunity.