Busy time at the state capital with the legislative session set to end tomorrow. So there's little time, but Governor Martinez still has hopes that she will be signing some of the education measures into law that she has proposed. The House did pass one of those proposals yesterday that would create a new system for evaluating teachers and principals in the 2013-2014 school year and base part of the assessment on student growth and achievement. The bill now goes to the Senate.

Also, the House is looking at requiring school districts to hold back third-graders who can't read proficiently, rather than promoting them to the next class. The Senate already has approved a similar bill. The state budget has made it through the legislature as the House agreed on a voice vote to accept Senate changes to the spending plan. The bill allocates $5.6 billion in the fiscal year that starts July 1. It provides for a $220 million or 4% increase in spending. The bill doesn't spend all the revenues the state expects to collect next year, leaving nearly $37 million available for possible tax cuts.

And the governor says that's what she wants......tax cuts to help businesses and create jobs and if the Legislature doesn't agree on the tax cut proposals......she might consider vetoing the budget bill. Meanwhile, the governor's proposal to stop New Mexico from giving drivers licenses to illegal immigrants is dead in the Senate.

The Senate passed an alternative measure that continues licenses for illegal immigrants but restricts them to one year. Governor Martinez is opposes it. And The governor signed into law a bill that allows for over sized loads of hay to be transported on state roads. The new law is designed to ease the strain that drought has placed on both ranchers and their livestock over the past year.