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Senator John Arthur Smith Breaks Down New Mexico's 2016 Budget Deficit

KSFR | By Mary Lou Cooper
Published September 26, 2016 at 1:22 PM MDT
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"A far more serious problem than 2009." That’s how Democratic Senator John Arthur Smith who chairs the New Mexico Senate Finance Committee described New Mexico’s budget deficit to KSFR’s Mary Lou Cooper.

Since 2014 oil and natural gas prices in New Mexico have dropped precipitously.  While consumers welcome the prices at the pump, the impact on the New Mexico budget which typically receives up to 25% of general fund revenue from oil and gas has been devastating.
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Mary Lou Cooper
Mary Lou Cooper has reported for KSFR for over a decade, focusing on consumer issues, health, politics, and more. She is a former US Congressional staffer and remains a political junkie to this day. Cooper has received journalism awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, Associated Press, National Federation of Press Women and New Mexico Press Women. She grew up in Oak Ridge, TN and received her BA from Emory University in Atlanta and her MA from the University of Texas Austin. She holds fiction and screenwriting certificates from the University of Washington.
See stories by Mary Lou Cooper