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Budget bottles up key initiatives in Legislature (SF New Mex.)

Budget bottles up key initiatives in Legislature

Posted: Saturday, February 15, 2014 7:00 pm    |      Updated: 12:08 am, Sun Feb 16, 2014.                      

Budget bottles up key initiatives in Legislature
By Milan Simonich and Patrick Malone The New Mexican

As the New Mexico Legislature’s 2014 session heads into its final days, the $6.2 billion state budget remains stalled by a fight over how to spend a relatively small amount of money for public schools.

Democratic legislators have bottled up Republican Gov. Susana Martinez’s high-profile initiatives. One would hold back third-graders en masse based on reading scores; the other would take away driver’s licenses from about 85,000 state residents who lack proof of immigration status.