August 18, 2008
Albuquerque Journal
Senators Blast Gov., Health Plan
By Winthrop Quigley And Jeff Jones, Journal Staff WritersSANTA FE — State senators on Sunday panned a $58 million-a-year children's health coverage plan by Gov. Bill Richardson, while blasting the governor himself for calling them into a special legislative session.
Angry senators said the session is unnecessary, will accomplish little and was called only to serve Richardson's national political ambitions.
"I really have no earthly idea why we are in this building except to serve the political purposes of this governor," Senate President Pro Tem Tim Jennings, D-Roswell, said during a hearing on Richardson's proposal to provide universal children's health coverage — a bill the Senate, acting as a committee of the whole, later voted to table.
Sen. Kent Cravens, R-Albuquerque, said a legislative staff analysis of the bill amounts to "a list of reasons not to do this." And he said it was introduced to give Richardson, who is discussed as a possible Democratic vice-presidential nominee, a "headline" for his speech later this month to the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
The bill is "about self-glorification of a man who is moving on," Cravens said.
Richardson spokeswoman Alarie Ray-Garcia said later, "Governor Richardson is not concerned about personal attacks made by a couple members of the Senate. Rather his focus, as it always has been, is on getting meaningful legislation passed to give 50,000 uninsured children access to health care and provide relief to working families who are struggling because of high gas prices."
Meanwhile, senators crafted a substitute bill Sunday evening that gutted Richardson's version. The substitute, seen by the Journal late Sunday, would over two years appropriate $20 million to be spent on Medicaid and premium assistance for low-income families; $10 million for services for developmentally disabled children; and $2.5 million for behavioral health services. The revised bill was expected to be heard in the Senate today.
Gone from the Senate's version are Richardson's proposals making health coverage for children mandatory; requiring insurance companies to spend 85 percent of premiums on health care; and requiring companies to sell insurance to everyone regardless of the customer's medical history.
The health care bill is among three major measures Richardson is pushing the lawmakers to approve in a special session that began Friday.
His wish list also includes a $120 million tax rebate package for New Mexicans to offset high gasoline prices, $200 million for transportation projects and measures to help schools deal with high fuel costs and to aid flood-stricken Lincoln and Otero counties.
Some lawmakers, most notably in the Senate, are concerned about the price tag of Richardson's plans in light of falling state revenue projections, and the pace in that chamber has been glacial.
The governor had far better luck in the House: With only a few minutes' worth of debate early Sunday evening, that chamber approved a big-ticket road construction package.
Jennings said the Legislature should pass a tax rebate if there is enough money in state coffers to do it. But he said that other legislation Richardson directed the Legislature to consider in the special session is unnecessary.
"Sometimes, it just really bothers me when we're called together for the wrong reasons, because everything we're talking about is for show," Jennings said.
Several senators from both parties continued the denunciation of the governor and complained that the administration, through its Human Services Department, refuses to provide legislators with enough information to evaluate Richardson's health care proposals.
A Legislative Finance Committee analysis of the bills said the Human Services Department would not provide some information the LFC requested. The department says a state District Court ruling bars it from providing information about rates paid to the insurance companies that manage Medicaid benefits.
"Once again, we have the governor saying, 'Trust me on this one,' " said Sen. John Grubesic, D-Santa Fe. He said Richardson has created "a fiscal black hole" during his six years in office.
"This is not bold legislation," Grubesic said. "This is a rip-off. This is a scam."
Also on Sunday, the Senate unanimously approved a bill providing $3.2 million to school districts for higher fuel costs for school buses. The House had provided $5 million, but the Senate rolled back the amount to the $3.2 million proposed by Richardson. The measure returns to the House for consideration of the Senate change.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.