With the state legislature scheduled to adjourn on March 20, New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson on March 11 vetoed the $1.6 billion public schools budget that lawmakers had sent to him without incorporating any of his education reform proposals, including school vouchers.
Johnson had made it clear he was “very, very serious about vouchers” in February, when he first warned legislators he would veto the education budget if it did not include his voucher program. When presented with a reform-free budget that increased school spending by 6.6 percent, the governor asked: “Where is the reform?”
“If the Legislature is not going to address reforms that are going to make a difference for the money that we spend, then I think it’s safe to say there’ll be a special session,” Johnson told the Albuquerque Journal.
For more information …
The complete text of New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson’s “For the Children” education reform proposal is available through PolicyBot. Point your Web browser to http://www.heartland.org, click on the PolicyBot icon, and search for old document #2177601 (20 pp.).
