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SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) A new state law will offer a tax break to encourage businesses to hire veterans who recently left the military and New Mexico also will give an advantage to veteran-owned businesses bidding on government contracts.

Gov. Susana Martinez signed the measures on Wednesday, as she met a deadline for acting on bills that passed the Legislature during its 30-day session.

Businesses can receive a $1,000 tax credit for hiring veterans within two years of their discharge from the military, which the governor says will help personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The tax incentive will be available starting this year and end in 2016.

"Our men and women in uniform make tremendous sacrifices to protect our safety and freedom," Martinez said in a statement. "It is unacceptable that these heroes might come home from Iraq and Afghanistan only to stand in the unemployment line.

Starting in July, businesses owned by veterans in New Mexico will receive a bidding preference on state and local government contracts. House Speaker Ben Lujan, D-Santa Fe, sponsored the proposal. The governor said it will "boost job growth in New Mexico's veteran community."

Also signed was a bill to require legislators to contribute more into their pensions, boosting it from $500 a year to $600 a year. The governor said in a statement that the contributions by legislators "are woefully inadequate in comparison to the taxpayer-funded benefits they generate."

"Given the generosity of these legislative pensions, and the significant expansion of these benefits throughout the years, I believe that voters should have the chance to weigh in on this important issue and evaluate the appropriateness of these pension benefits," Martinez said.

Martinez vetoed several proposals, including ones to:

Create three additional judgeships in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties. The governor said lawmakers didn't fully finance the positions, but Arthur Pepin, director of the Administrative Office of the Courts, disagreed. He said there was enough money in the bill and a state budget measure to pay for the judges and support staff during half of the next fiscal year. The judgeships wouldn't be created until January 2013, which meant that they initially needed money for only six months of the budget year.

Allow counties to increase the salaries of their elected officials by as much as 15 percent. The measure would have raised the cap in state law on salaries of county officials, including sheriff, treasurer and assessor. However, it would be up to county commissioners to decide whether to provide a pay increase. The governor objected to the potential increase in taxpayer spending, saying government finances remain uncertain.

Originally posted here:
Governor approves tax break for hiring veterans