DISABILITY RIGHTS NEW MEXICO 1720 Louisiana Blvd. NE, Suite 204 Albuquerque, New Mexico 87110 TEL/TTY: (505) 256-3100 FAX: (505) 256-3184 State-wide Toll Free 1-800-432-4682 WEBSITE: www.drnm.org EMAIL:
[email protected] James Jackson, Executive Director Promoting and Protecting the Rights of Persons with Disabilities DISABILITY ISSUES IN THE 2011 LEGISLATURE STATUS REPORT #8 March 14, 2011 By Jim Jackson, Executive Director DISABILITY RIGHTS NEW MEXICO The end is near! This is the final week of this year’s legislative session. Legislators will be scrambling to get their bills and memorials heard in final committees and debated on the floor before noon on Saturday, when the session ends. There have been many late night hearings already in the past week, with a few House committees meeting until after 2:00 a.m. to hear all the bills on their agendas. What about the budget? The Senate Finance Committee has been reviewing the state budget bill, HB 2, since it came over from the House more than a week ago. The Committee had held hearings on most of the state agency budget requests early in the session, and then had to wait while the House revised its initial state budget based on negotiations with the governor’s office. With only one week left in the session, the SFC has just this weekend taken action on its version of the budget. However, their report has not yet been accepted by the Senate so the latest version of the bill has not yet been released for review.