August 19, 2008
Santa Fe New Mexican
Senate scales back governor's grand plan
Wary of meager oil and gas revenues, legislators cut spending for key proposals
Steve Terrell | The New MexicanWhile Gov. Bill Richardson was in Albuquerque with Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama — leading to more political chatter about the possibility of Richardson being chosen as Obama's running mate — the state Senate was busy scaling back some of the governor's key proposals.
Senators said the outlook for oil and gas revenues is too shaky to spend as much money as the governor wants.
The Senate took Richardson's proposal for $120 million in tax rebates and cut it back to $56 million — which means individual taxpayers would get rebates between $25 and $50. (A House committee by Monday evening had restored the total rebates to about $87 million, which would mean $90 for each taxpayer.)
The Senate also passed a health care bill expanding Medicaid by $20 million. Richardson wanted $58 million in new Medicaid spending. The Senate also eliminated a requirement advocated by Richardson to make health insurance mandatory for children and cut out the governor's various proposals to reform the insurance industry.
The Senate also cut back Richardson's child care bill, passing a bill authorizing $7.2 million in spending — down from the $13 million wanted by Richardson.
Monday's most tense moment came in the House, when Rep. Candy Spence Ezzell, R-Roswell, said the House hadn't accomplished anything so far but "waste taxpayers' money" and moved to adjourn.
At first, House Speaker Ben Luján said he wouldn't accept that motion. But House Republican Whip Dan Foley read a House rule that said motions to adjourn had to be voted on and demanded a roll-call vote.
Luján replied sarcastically, "Maybe Ruidoso doesn't need that money." He was referring to a $5 million bill for emergency relief for Lincoln County, which recently suffered devastating floods.
When Ezzell began to speak again, Luján cut her off, snapping, "We've got a motion to adjourn," and called for members to vote. The motion failed on a party-line vote of 27 to 39.
Afterward, Foley said if Luján really cared about Ruidoso, he would have allowed the House to vote on the flood-relief bill before anything else. He said the governor could have ordered emergency funds for flood damage.
"That's hogwash," Luján said in an interview. The speaker said there was a technical glitch in the flood bill that would have prevented the state from getting federal matching funds had the House not amended the bill in committee. "If we'd have gone along with (the adjournment motion), they wouldn't have gotten anything for Ruidoso."
On Sunday, there was a flurry of Richardson-bashing on the Senate floor — where some senators said the only reason the special session was called was to give the governor something to brag about during the Democratic National Convention in Denver next week. However on Monday, some senators came to Richardson's defense.
Sen. Shannon Robinson, D-Albuquerque, said Richardson shouldn't be criticized for having a national presence in the Democratic Party. "We should be proud of our favorite son," he said during a Senate floor debate on the tax-rebate bill.
Senate Democratic Whip Mary Jane Garcia of Doña Ana said, "We do have to credit Governor Richardson. We can't just be up here criticizing the guy."
Republican Sen. Joe Carraro, Albuquerque, during the same debate, said Richardson had the best résumé of any presidential or vice-presidential candidate. But he voted against the rebate bill, saying Richardson would have more bragging rights if the money was spent not on rebates but on a proposal — by Carraro — to give free screenings for life-threatening diseases.
Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com.