The New Mexico Legislature sued Republican Gov. Susana Martinez on Friday over budget vetoes that would effectively eliminate the legislative branch of government by cutting off its funding amid an escalating clash over how to resolve the state's financial crisis.
The move by the Democratic-controlled Legislature was an extraordinary step in a drawn-out feud over budget shortfalls that already have triggered cuts to public school athletic programs, layoffs at state museums and shortages of public defenders. Without a compromise, New Mexico runs the risk of closing down its Statehouse and crippling university teaching and research programs for agriculture, medicine and oil exploration, along with specialty schools for the blind and deaf.
The Legislature on Friday petitioned the New Mexico Supreme Court to rescind Martinez's line-item vetoes on spending that it says would "effectively abolish" state institutions of higher education and upset the balance of powers between branches of government outlined in the state's constitution.
Read more at The Associated Press: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/mexico-legislature-sues-governor-escalating-conflict-46942427