Newly elected Senate Majority Leader Peter Worth shakes hands in the State House of Representatives Tuesday before the opening joint session begins. Photo by Roger snodgrass/ladailypost.com

LEGISLATIVE SESSION News:

SANTA FE – Tuesday, on the second day of the New Mexico Legislative Session, the New Mexico State Senate passed a package of four bipartisan solvency measures that put forth responsible solutions to balancing our state’s Fiscal Year 2017 budget.

The measures, which would provide a combined $262 million savings to the current year’s budget passed nearly unanimously.

“The Senate got to work immediately this session and on day two overwhelmingly passed balanced solutions to address our state’s immediate budget crisis,” Senate Majority Leader Wirth said. “The Senate minimized the cuts that were proposed to public schools and preserved more than “20 million for economic development projects.”

Earlier this afternoon, all four pieces of the package passed the Senate Finance Committee with unanimous bipartisan support.

“I would like to thank the bipartisan efforts of the Senate to work together to solve this crisis,” Senate Finance Chairman John Arthur Smith said. “Senators recognized the call for tough decisions to be made and answered them with responsible solutions.”

Senate Finance Committee Member Sen. George Muñoz echoed Chairman Smith’s sentiments.

“This solvency package sends a message that we are not willing to tolerate the current practice of writing bad checks and makes it clear to bond companies that we are committed to protecting our bond rating,” Muñoz said.