AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to over 30 million articles from top publications available through your library.
Create a link to this page
Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:
Byline: Jeff Jones Journal Staff Writer
A potential budget crisis at the state Attorney General's Office has been averted by Tuesday's $25 million casino revenue-sharing settlement with the Mescalero Apache Tribe, Attorney General Patricia Madrid said.
Madrid's office earlier this month had warned it might have to shut down for May and June if an $800,000 supplemental appropriation vetoed by Gov. Bill Richardson wasn't restored. But Madrid said Tuesday that some of the casino lawsuit settlement money will be used to make up the gap and keep her attorneys at work.
"It's a relief to be fully funded," Madrid said.
The Legislature over the past few years has said that a portion of the Attorney General's budget would come from lawsuit settlements obtained by that office, said Chief Deputy Attorney General Stuart Bluestone. This year, the Legislature deemed that $1.2 million would come from such settlements.