New Mexico Retools Facilities Plan Overturned by Judge

By Catherine Gewertz

Hoping to end a lawsuit over the way it distributes school construction money to districts, New Mexico has passed legislation that would make available $600 million over the next decade for capital-outlay projects and give preference to cash-poor communities.

Under the new law, the state would issue bonds totaling $60 million a year for the next 10 years backed by proceeds from its severance-tax fund, which is drawn from taxes paid by mining concerns. The law sets aside a portion of the new money generated by the bonds for districts less able to raise money through property taxes.

Gov. Gary E. Johnson signed the measure into law last week. The law was the state's response to a 1998 lawsuit by three school districts that include vast stretches of American Indian lands and, thus, little taxable property. That diminishes the districts' capacity to issue bonds, leaving them with few resources...