Gov. Bill Richardson now says he won’t likely call a special session until late in the summer after he had productive meetings with two Senate leaders last week.
Richardson met with Senate President Tim Jennings, D-Roswell, and Senate Finance Chair John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, in separate meetings last week.
“The governor is leaning toward a special session later in the summer following productive meetings last week with Sen. Jennings and Sen. Smith,” Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said today. “The governor came away from those meetings with the belief that there is a desire to move forward with negotiations that will result in universal health coverage.”
During this year’s legislative session, the House approved Richardson’s universal health-care plan after rewriting it, but the Senate was unwilling to consider the proposal. Richardson said immediately following the session that he would call a special session to address universal health care. After a meeting with Senate leaders in February, he said the special session would most likely be held late in the summer to give the Senate and his staff time to work out a plan.
But Richardson said earlier this month he was disappointed with the lack of progress from an ad-hoc Senate committee and was considering calling a special session in May – weeks before several legislators are facing challenges in the June 3 primary.
Following Richardson’s threat, Jennings said he believes that “every New Mexican deserves to be able to get good, affordable health care when they need it,” but said “the reforms necessary to achieve that goal are quite complex and need to be worked out over time.”
Smith said he wants to enact universal health care but doesn’t know whether the state can afford it. He said he wants to wait until new revenue forecasts are released in June before proceeding.
Both said the Senate committee has met twice and is planning future meetings on universal health care.
