Martinez strips $27 million from state budget bill
Surrounded by students at Puesta del Sol Elementary School in Rio Rancho, Martinez signed a budget bill that just weeks earlier had been lauded by Democrats and Republicans as a sensible compromise. It passed the Senate unanimously, and only eight members of the House opposed it.
By the time the Republican governor finished striking language with line-item vetoes, however, one Democratic lawmaker accused Martinez of reigniting the partisan fight.