8/3/2019 November 2011_LFC Cover Letter

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/november-2011lfc-cover-letter 1/2

 

November 15, 2011

The Honorable Senator John Arthur Smith, Chairmanand Honorable Members of the Legislative Finance Committee325 Don Gaspar, Suite 101

Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501

Re: Fiscal Year 2013Budget Request for Attorney General Gary King

Dear Chairman Smith and Members of the Legislative Finance Committee:

We seek your assistance and support for our FY’13 Budget Request. We continue tostrive to not only fulfill our mission but also to strengthen the effectiveness of theprograms we have instituted in the Attorney General’s Office. This letter will quickly

summarize the funding request that is necessary to continue our efforts and sustain ourlevel of service in order to best serve the citizens of New Mexico.

You will find that there is no increase to the base budget request. We have proposedprudent amounts in our base budget request by continuing to budget conservativespending in Contractual Services and also the Other Expenditures Category. ThePersonal Services and Employee Benefits is requested at an agency-wide 3% vacancyrate.

In addition to our base budget request, we would also request, from the legislature, a3% merit increase for all AGO employees to assist us with becoming a competitive lawoffice and to address retention issues. The Attorney General’s Office cannot continue to

provide the current level of service if we have to increase our vacancy rate beyond the

current level we have maintained this fiscal year. Although we continue to make aconcerted effort to meet all additional demands placed upon the office, we arestruggling with our current staffing level.

We also request a 1.5 million general fund special appropriation for water litigationissues. The State of NM through the Attorney General is involved in litigation against the US Bureau of Reclamation regarding the operation of the Rio Grande Project (Elephant Butte Reservoir, Caballo Reservoir, EIBD and EP#1). The state brought suit 

8/3/2019 November 2011_LFC Cover Letter

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/november-2011lfc-cover-letter 2/2

2

against the United States because it has abandoned the way it operated the project forthe past century and has illegally changed the method of allocation of water to farmersin New Mexico and Texas. The base budget does not account for these anticipated costsand our commitments to zealously represent NM in water litigation.

From the Consumer Protection Fund Balance, we request BAR authority for up to$500,000 for both fiscal years 2012 and 2013 to support the joint powers agreement with the Second Judicial District Attorney for expenses relating to the prosecutions of Rebecca Vigil-Giron, Armando Gutierrez, Elizabeth Kupfer, and Joseph Carl Kupfer.

To acquaint the Committee with the many issues and services provided by the AttorneyGeneral’s Office, our presentation includes a description of our activity in Fiscal Year2011. The materials give a brief highlight of the multitude of accomplishments andcontributions made by our 14 Divisions. We encourage your review of that information.We are continuing to move forward successfully with our ambitious initiatives in theAttorney General’s Office. Through our collaborative efforts we have succeeded in

providing quality legal service to the State of New Mexico and its citizens.

Our presentation also includes an updated list of our multi-year grants and awards. Ourgrant awards total $6,199,782 and fund 22 full-time employees. Grants are not included in the budget request and are budgeted through budget adjustment requests.

As always, my staff and I are most willing to meet with you to discuss in detail our FiscalYear 2013 Budget Request. Our continuing efforts to improve the effectiveness of theAttorney General’s Office are dependent on the support of the requests we are makingfor FY ’13. I would very much appreciate the opportunity to explain the needs of theAttorney General’s Office and look forward to working with you to develop your

recommended appropriation for our agency.

Sincerely,

Gary KingATTORNEY GENERAL

cc: David Abbey, Director LFCRandall Soderquist, Ph.D., Principal Analyst

Tom Clifford, Cabinet Secretary, DFA

Duffy Rodriguez, Deputy Secretary for Budget and Policy

Markita Sanchez, Executive Budget Manager