Andy BrosigNews-Sun Dee Ann Kimbro, who owns two downtown Lovington businesses, has a simple plea for state Democratic lawmakers who want to link the New Mexico minimum wage to inflation to provide potentially automatic increases: “Don’t do that,” she said Thursday. “Please.” Draft bills from state Reps. Miguel Garcia, D–Albuquerque, and Christine Chandler, D–Los Alamos, were published Wednesday that would …

By MORGAN LEE Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Leading New Mexico legislators recommended a billion-dollar increase Thursday in annual state spending to expand preschool access and increase mandatory classroom instruction time at K-12 public schools. The budget proposal would increase general fund spending by 12%, or just over $1 billion, to $9.4 billion for the fiscal year that …