I'm proud of the fact that we were able to work together--the Legislature and the Governor--Democrats and Republicans. We came together and found a better way. We protected classroom spending and Medicaid. And we did not raise taxes.
That's why I am proposing that we exempt roughly half of New Mexico's small businesses--those earning less than $50,000 per year--from the gross receipts tax. That's roughly 40,000 of our small businesses--the little ones, the start-ups. This is a bottom-up approach.
Those who abuse children should face severe penalties and mandatory prison time. We must always put justice for victims first. And we are going to change the law and fight to ensure that no one is able to murder someone in our state and get off easy--or get away with it completely--by simply running out the clock.
I am confident we can work together to solve other pressing public safety needs--strengthening Megan's Law to ensure sex offenders cannot live in secret in our neighborhoods, allowing Amber Alerts to be issued when relatives abduct a child and put them in harm's way, and ending the practice of providing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.
We took some very important first steps in education reform. Just last week, we announced the preliminary, baseline grades for New Mexico schools. They will continue to be fine-tuned as we work with school districts to finalize the results. By this summer, every school will receive an official letter grade--A, B, C, D, or F. Finally, we have a school rating system that is uniquely our own. Not a one-size-fits-all federal system, but rather an honest assessment of how our children are learning and improving--a way to identify struggling schools, so we can get them the help they need.
Holding children back is not the goal. The goal is for every child to learn the basics and to identify and help those who struggle before the third grade. We build a child's self-esteem not by convincing them that accepting failure is okay but by showing them that they can reach any goal by offering a helping hand when they struggle so they learn to never give up, to persevere, and to ultimately triumph and succeed.
And here's how we'll do it. My plan this year calls for a $17 million investment in reading reforms. Teachers will assess children early on--in kindergarten, first, second grade. And those students who are struggling will get immediate help in these early years--more tutoring, more individual attention. We'll put more reading coaches in elementary schools.
And Union Pacific is now in New Mexico, creating 3,000 jobs building their new facility and over 600 permanent jobs. TE Connectivity is now leaving El Paso and moving to Santa Teresa, creating up to 200 jobs. It's a similar story with Alaska Structures, which also moved operations here from El Paso.
In fact, a Texas newspaper has seen what we've done, and they're worried--they said so in an editorial. Texas is worrying about New Mexico stealing their jobs. My friends, the more they worry, the better we're doing.
When Intel needed an air quality permit, we held them to high standards. And when they met those standards, we got them their permit in less than four months--quicker than ever before. But when corporations broke our environmental laws, when they tried to sidestep our safeguards, we went after them, collecting over $3.3 million in fines from utility, energy, and oil and gas companies. With sensible, predictable regulations we can grow our economy and protect our environment. We can and we must do both.
And I kept my promise to get rid of the ultimate symbol of waste and excess. We sold the state's luxury jet.
We cut waste across state government. We cut cell phones. We got rid of non-essential state cars. In the Governor's office, we slashed our budget and reverted over half a million dollars back into the state's savings account. Cabinet secretary salaries were cut by 10% and we dramatically reduced the number of political appointees. And together--the Governor and the Legislature--we hammered out a budget compromise that reduced spending while protecting priorities and balanced the state budget.
There are a few other common-sense measures we can enact to help restore public confidence. When a public official is convicted of corruption, they should be forced from office immediately--not 10 or 14 days later--but immediately. When a politician violates the public trust, they should lose their public pension and be barred from doing business with the state. And when the state goes after a public official for corruption, taxpayers should not have to pay to defend that person in court.
As we continue to do more with less, we must never forget that our budget is a statement about our values. That's why my budget invests $45 million more in Medicaid, providing health care for the poor and the disabled. Federal Medicare cuts are threatening to close nursing homes, leaving patients, parents, and grandparents with nowhere to go. We promised to be there. That's why my budget includes $8 million to keep that promise and keep those nursing homes open.
We are so grateful for what our veterans have done and continue to do for us. And I am proposing that we allow retiring veterans to exempt 25 percent of their pension income from state taxes. They have earned it.
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The above quotations are from 2012 Governor's State of the State speeches.
Click here for other excerpts from 2012 Governor's State of the State speeches. Click here for other excerpts by Susana Martinez. Click here for other excerpts by other Governors.
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