August 20, 2008
Santa Fe New Mexican
Special session ends on 'modest' note
Governor touts 'solid gains,' but some lawmakers say five-day meeting a waste of money
Kate Nash | The New MexicanLawmakers packed up Tuesday and went home after a special session that several grumbled was a waste of time and money.
"I don't think we should have been called in for a special session," said Senate Majority Leader Stuart Ingle, R-Portales.
"The revenues basically fell completely in half from what the original estimates were from when the governor talked about a special session," he said.
Still, lawmakers somewhat reluctantly passed scaled-down versions of what Gov. Bill Richardson asked for and then adjourned, despite repeated rumblings early on that the Senate would adjourn without considering Richardson's ideas.
Many, however, said they didn't understand the point of meeting so close to the regular session, which starts in January.
Richardson called for the session after the Legislature earlier this year didn't pass his plan to get health insurance to the 400,000 people in the state without it. For this session, he revamped that plan to focus on the 50,000 children with no insurance. In the end, the health care bill that passed would cover about 17,000 kids, if Richardson signs it.
After it was thought the state had almost $400 million in surplus revenues from high oil and gas prices, Richardson also pitched a rebate plan for taxpayers, but the Legislature gave him one worth about half what he wanted. The House and Senate approved measures to pay for road projects, expand the working-families tax credit, help low-income residents pay heating bills, keep school buses full of fuel and give emergency money for areas hit by recent flooding in Lincoln County.
Richardson, whose office said he was in the state but didn't specify where, didn't hold the traditional end-of-session news conference. His office instead issued a statement. "The winners are kids, working families and our most vulnerable citizens," the statement said. "While the Legislature did not go as far as I would have liked to cover all children with health insurance, I believe modest, but solid gains were made toward that goal."
"I am particularly pleased that legislators agreed to provide permanent tax relief for working New Mexico families. These tax credits, on top of the modest rebates, additional child care assistance and funding for home-heating, will provide much-needed relief for working families."
House Minority Leader Tom Taylor, R-Farmington, said almost none of the issues before the Legislature needed immediate attention.
"Really, other than some of the Lincoln County flood money, there really wasn't an emergency — nothing we couldn't have handled in a regular session," he said.
The Legislature passed $5 million for the Ruidoso area to help flooding victims.
Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen, said the health care crisis in the state needed to be addressed. "It's always an emergency if you don't have a child insured, in my opinion," he said.
While many agreed the state needs to boost its ranks of the insured, lawmakers worried about how to pay for it. "One of the reasons behind this was to utilize some of the extra dollars, or the perceived extra dollars," Taylor said. "But every day we've been here, they've been dwindling away. They weren't real to begin with."
Revenue projections, tied in large part to the price of oil and gas, in recent weeks have gone from almost $400 million to $225 million to $207 million.
"We may be able to save a little more allowing the secretary of state to pay some of the bills she's got to pay," Taylor said, referring to a measure that will give the office $1.6 million for expenses related to the general election.
"But at the same time, we've wasted that amount meeting here."
The five days the Legislature spent in Santa Fe cost taxpayers $225,000, at $45,000 a day. The 112 lawmakers also earn $144 a day, which for the five-day session would be $80,640, assuming each lawmaker claimed the full per diem amount. Lawmakers also get reimbursed for the mileage for one round trip from their hometown during the session. Another big session-related price tag: It will cost about $1 million for the state Taxation and Revenue Department to process and send the rebate checks.
Still, Sen. Shannon Robinson, D-Albuquerque, said the session was worth the cost. "That's cheap compared to making a horrendous mistake that might cost us millions later or not taking care of kids who don't have health insurance, which would be millions of dollars later also. So it is a good investment."
He did, however, express concern about the size of the rebate, for which he voted. "It's always good to give people money back, but 50 bucks is kind of negligible," he said. "I talked to one of my constituents today. She said, 'I can't fill a tank of gas with that.' "
Richardson's rebate proposal would have given a person making up to $60,000 a $120 rebate, plus $48 for each dependent.
The Legislature's approved rebate plan means someone earning up to $30,000 would get $50 plus $50 for each dependent, if Richardson signs it.
The debate on rebates was among the longer discussions during the session, which started Friday.
The Senate in particular bogged down and spent hours on end in closed-door caucuses this session. "The only consensus we reached in the caucus the other day was that we really don't like each other all the time," Robinson said.
In the House, however, things generally seemed to flow a little smoother. A motion earlier in the week by Rep. Candy Spence Ezzell, R-Roswell, for example, failed on a straight party-line vote, with Democrats voting to stay in session and Republicans voting to leave.
As for what went wrong for Richardson's plans, Ingle suggested the administration didn't do enough advance work. "I think the calendar was way too big," he said.
"Special sessions over my 24 years of being here, if they are successful, it's because there's a general agreement on what you will do before you get here, the dollars are there or the subject had been discussed and talked about, and none of that has happened here," he said.
Contact Kate Nash at 986-3036 or knash@sfnewmexican.com. Read her blog, Green Chile Chatter, at www.santafenewmexican.com.
TAKING STOCK
Health care
Gov. Bill Richardson wanted to spend $58 million to add 50,000 uninsured kids to programs including Medicaid and the Premium Assistance for Kids.
The Legislature passed a measure that would spend $32.5 million to cover about 17,000 kids.
Rebates
Richardson wanted to spend $120 million on rebates, but a Legislature-approved plan would spend $56 million. The governor's plan would have given money back to taxpayers making up to $80,000. Instead, the Legislature approved a plan under which residents making up to $70,000 will get a rebate.