On the Table

Settlement Means Bonus for College Funds

Oppenheimer Funds Inc. will pay New Mexico $67 million as a settlement in a dispute over the firm’s management of New Mexico’s 529 college savings programs, the Attorney General has announced. The money would be distributed to participants in the Education Plan and Scholar’s Edge programs, college savings plans with tax benefits. The settlement requires approval from the Education Trust Board.

Library Gets Money To Promote Technology

The New Mexico State Library is to receive a $1.5 million grant and $591,000 in federal matching funds to promote the adoption of high-speed Internet use and computer literacy. The money is coming to the state through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Per Prisoner Cost Averages Over $100/day

The per-inmate-per-day at the state’s public prisons ranged from $75.25 at Roswell Correctional Center to $238.50 at Springer Correctional Center in FY08, according to the Corrections Department. The average for all public prisons was $123.45. The average at the private prisons was $81.79 for men and $93.65 for women.

Gaming Revenue Down

Tribal gaming revenue was down 5.8 percent for the first quarter of FY10. Every tribe saw year-to-year declines in the net win during the quarter. The drops ranged from 4 percent at Sandia to nearly 26 percent at Acoma. Revenues at race track casinos were down 11 percent.

Enrollment Up in Medicaid, Insurance Plan

Enrollment in Medicaid was at a little over 468,000 in August, a 3.6 percent increase over the same month a year ago. Enrollment in State Coverage Insurance, a subsidized health insurance program, was about 44,000, a 6.2 percent increase over the previous month.

Drug Settlement Nets $10 Million

New Mexico will receive a little over $10 million from drug maker Eli Lilly as part of a national settlement over the company’s marketing of the antipsychotic drug Zyprexa, the Attorney General announced. Lilly was accused of promoting the drug for unapproved uses and concealing its serious side effects.

Miners’ Hospital Falls Short

The Miners’ Hospital estimates revenues will fall $2.4 million short for FY10. The hospital has intitiated a pharmacy management procedure it believes will save $600,000 but might still need a transfer of funds from the Miners’ Trust to balance its budget.

Transitions

LFC analyst Arley Williams has resigned to become an assistant vice president at the University of Wyoming.

Bill Brancard, formerly director of the Mining and Minerals Division at the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, has assumed the duties of the department’s general counsel following the retirement of Carol Leach.

Mathew Woodlee, formerly an LFC analyst and previously director of the Office of International Trade at the Economic Development Department, has accepted a position in the Albuquerque office of WG Scorpion, Washington D.C.-based international management consultants.