Pain At The Pump

gas prices are slowly creeping up here in new mexico. according to triple-a, the average price for a gallon of unleaded is two- dollars and seventy-nine cents. it's bad news for drivers, but good news for the state - - which needs the extra revenue. jeff maher has the story. the ghost of high gas prices appears to be slowly coming back - "they've been creeping up quite a bit" "they're steadily climbing up, it's kind of scary, it's going to be back to the way it used to be, four llars a gallon, it's already hard enough with the way the economy is going" hard on your wallet - - but good for the state budget. in january, legislators are expecting to face a 300-million dollar shortfall right off the bat - - and it could grow much higher. a portion of what you pay at the pump ends up in the state's piggy bank. state senator sander rue says that extra revenue will help the state's looming budget crisis -- but not soon enough. "you don't get that money back instantly, t here's some lag, some drag time on that" senator rue says it could take several months before the state starts to see the extra oil revenue flowing in. and even when that happens - - it's not expected to save the day. he says already some of the oil drillers in the state have bolted to other states where they can make more money. without that local production, the state suffers even more. "unfortunately state government has created a hostile uncertain regulatory environment for oil and gas production, so that's something else we will have to look at in the future as prices come back up"