AG says Denish’s acceptance of funding bills was valid

Attorney General Gary King said late Monday that the lieutenant governor’s Saturday acceptance of funding bills on behalf of the governor was valid and did start the clock on the time the governor has to act on them.

King was responding to a request for an opinion from Paula Tackett, director of the Legislative Council Service.

“My attorneys have been working on this question and have found nothing in state law or these circumstances that would prohibit the lieutenant governor from accepting legislation on behalf of the governor and starting the clock on the time that the governor has to consider it,” King said in a news release.

You can read the AG’s letter, written by Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth Glenn, by clicking here. Gov. Bill Richardson’s office did not immediately respond to an after-hours request for comment.

Lt. Gov. Diane Denish on Saturday accepted the junior budget and capital outlay bills at about 6 p.m. on behalf of the governor. The bills received final legislative approval earlier in the afternoon. Attempts by legislative staffers to contact the governor’s office between 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. were unsuccessful even though “the Senate was still on the floor and legislative staff had informed the governor’s office, as part of their normal routine, that bills would be presented on Saturday afternoon or evening,” Tackett wrote in her letter to King.

The attempts were unsuccessful because Richardson’s office had closed and staffers could not be reached.

The New Mexico Constitution gives Richardson three days, excluding Sundays, to act on any bill sent to him before the third-to-last day of the session. If there’s no action, the bill goes into law without his signature. Denish’s action, if valid, would give Richardson until 6 p.m. Wednesday to act.

But Richardson’s chief of staff, James Jimenez, sent a letter to the Senate on Saturday stating that Denish did not have authority to accept the bills because she is not a member of Richardson’s staff and Richardson was in the state on Saturday, so she did not have the authority to act as governor.

With the session ending at noon Thursday, the dispute is important because the 6 p.m. Wednesday deadline would give lawmakers time to analyze the governor’s line-item vetoes – if he makes any – and attempt to override some or all of them.

Glenn wrote that it’s not clear whether the constitution requires the governor to keep his office open or make himself available at all times during the session to accept bills, but the governor cannot intentionally evade the Legislature’s attempts to present bills – which is what several senators are accusing him of doing in this instance. Jimenez told me Sunday that the office was closed because several senators had told a Richardson staffer they were going home.

Senators threatened to quit passing other bills and go home on Saturday in an attempt to push the house to act on the junior budget bill.

Glenn also wrote that, because Richardson had not previously notified the Legislature that Denish was not authorized to accept bills on his behalf, it was reasonable for the Legislature to assume that she could accept the bills.

Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming and chair of the Senate Finance Committee, has said Senate leaders will take Richardson to court if he attempts to act on the bills after 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

A prior version of this posting incorrectly cited a New Mexico Supreme Court ruling in stating that the AG believes Richardson can’t intentionally evade acceptance of the bills. The citation should have referred to a 1982 Alabama Supreme Court case that is not legally binding in New Mexico but could be used to argue precedent.