Revenue projections continue to fall thanks to oil prices remaining lower than previous projections, meaning that there could be some tough decisions in the upcoming legislative session.

The new projections show that legislators will have $232 million in new funds for the upcoming legislative session, which is down by $61 million from the previous projections. The projections are for the Fiscal Year 2016 budget and came at a Legislative Finance Committee meeting on Monday.

Even with the reduced amount, Senate Finance Committee chair John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, was skeptical of the projection.

“We hope the revenues materialize, but it’s going to be extremely painful if they...

As was widely expected, Republican governors selected Susana Martinez to lead the Republican Governors Association.

The governors picked Martinez to be the next chair of the organization on Nov. 19 at a meeting in Las Vegas, which pushes Martinez even further into the national spotlight. The selection will surely prompt more discussion of Martinez as a possible Vice Presidential candidate or cabinet member of a Republican presidential administration. Martinez has denied any interest in national office each time she is asked.

Martinez previously was the vice chair of the RGA, which is an organization that represents Republican governors throughout the country and seeks to get more...

On Oct. 15, 2014, Kevin Sourisseau sent a message to his boss with the subject line “Harold’s Trucking Audit.”

As second and first in command of the state Taxation and Revenue Department’s audits, Sourisseau and his then-director Lizzy Vedamanikam were in charge of making sure individuals and businesses paid their share of taxes in New Mexico.

Their boss, TRD Secretary Demesia Padilla, wanted to help Harold’s Grading & Trucking save money after the Bernalillo-based company faced an audit from their department. Before Gov. Susana Martinez named her head of the state agency in 2011, Padilla had done accounting work for the trucking company.

In his email to Vedamanikam...

Gov. Susana Martinez isn’t on board with accepting refugees fleeing the unrest in Syria at this time.

A spokesman for the governor said, “The Governor strongly opposes the Obama Administration’s plan to accept more Syrian refugees until there is a very clear plan in place to properly vet and place the refugees, and the voices of governors and the public can be heard.”

Lt. Gov. John Sanchez agreed on Facebook on Monday night.

“I strongly oppose the President’s proposal to allow the unchecked flow of Syrian refugees into the United States,” Sanchez wrote. “The potential security threat that this represents must be reconsidered in light of the need to keep U.S. citizens...