Susana’s gamble paying off so far

From Capitol Report New Mexico.com - As the legislative session ended in March, Gov. Susana Martinez took a calculated risk. She could make an exception to her no-taxes pledge and OK a $128 million plan approved by both houses of the legislature to shore up the state’s unemployment fund or she could line-item veto the hike and hope that New Mexico’s struggling economy could improve enough on its own to keep the fund solvent. Martinez rolled the dice and vetoed the bill in early April. Now, less than four months later, her gamble has paid off — so far. As Associated Press reported last Friday (July 22), the finances for the unemployment compensation fund are improving and should remain in the black through March of 2013. “We’re cautious but we want to keep going in the direction we’re headed in,” Gov. Martinez told Capitol Report New Mexico on Tuesday (July 26). The big reason for the fund bouncing back is New Mexico’s drop in unemployment rates. Back in January and February, the jobless percentage was stuck at 8.7 percent. But in every month since then, the rate has dropped across the state and according to statistics released Monday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, New Mexico’s unemployment rate dropped to 6.8 percent for June. Read more