Health care advocates in New Mexico are decrying Gov. Susana Martinez’s April 18 line-item veto of the University of New Mexico’s $8 million in state funding.
According to a release from the American Cancer Society, the veto will slash funding to the university’s Comprehensive Cancer Center.
“This unprecedented veto is an affront to the more than 10,000 New Mexicans who will be diagnosed with cancer this year,” Sandra Adondakis, the society’s government relations director for New Mexico, said in the release.
Adondakis outlined the issues with the budget veto, which include trimming services to more than 10,000 citizens, “many in rural or low-income communities,” the release said.
The release also questioned the timing of the veto, since it comes on the heels of a White House reduction to the National Cancer Institute’s budget.
“Loss of research funding not only dramatically limits breakthroughs in medical innovation, but can be a major blow to local economies,” Adondakis said in the release. "Last year, New Mexico received $99 million in NIH research funds that spurred close to $240 million (in) economic activity and created 1,531 jobs in the state.”
