It appears that Gov. Bill Richardson may change his mind yet again on when he wants to hold a special session.
The governor said today at a news conference that he might move up the date of the special session, which now includes health-care reform, tax relief and road-construction funding, to early August to speed aid to struggling New Mexicans, The Santa Fe New Mexican’s Kate Nash is reporting on her blog.
Richardson said last week he would call the special session in early September, just after the Democratic and Republican parties’ presidential nominating conventions ended. He said then that the session’s agenda would include tax relief. That was the first time he indicated that it would include more than health-care reform.
Today, according to Nash, the governor also added road funding to the agenda.
Richardson’s universal health care proposal received a cold shoulder from the Senate during the regular session that ended in February. He has been working since then to try to build consensus behind health-care reform, but many Senate leaders remain opposed.
Richardson has wrestled with them in a very public way. He said immediately following the regular session that he could call a special session as soon as the following week — in the midst of the primary election season when lawmakers needed to be in their districts campaigning — for health-care reform.
Then in late February, Richardson said he was meeting with Senate leaders to determine a date for the session. He set up a working group to try to build consensus. Days later, he announced that the session wouldn’t be held until the summer.
But he later threatened in April to hold it in May — right before the primary — because he claimed Senate leaders weren’t making progress toward consensus. Following another meeting with Senate leaders, Richardson again backed off, saying he wouldn’t call the session until “late summer.”
The focus of the session began to shift last week after Richardson and Senate Finance Chairman John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, engaged in a debate in the media about whether the state could afford universal health care without a tax increase. Smith suggested the state’s windfall oil and gas revenues should instead be used for tax relief and a highway budget shortfall.
That’s when Richardson began talking about tax relief as an additional agenda item for the special session. On Wednesday, Richardson suggested that the agenda could also include additional proposals.
Richardson said today at a news conference that he wants rebates of $150 plus $40 for each dependent for people making up to $60,000 a year; $125 plus $34 for each dependent for people making between $60,000 and $65,000 per year; $100 plus $26 for each dependent for people making between $65,000 and $70,000 per year; and $70 plus $20 for each dependent for people making $70,000 or more.
Richardson’s proposal also includes a gross-receipts-tax holiday during the Christmas season, an increase in the Worker Families Tax Credit and an increase in the eligibility limits for child-care assistance, according to Nash.
Richardson also wants to expand a program that helps low-income residents pay energy bills, Nash reported. And — a week after Smith called for it — Richardson wants to invest more money in road construction. The state is some $500 million short on funding for road projects.
Update, 12:40 p.m.
In a news release, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish asked Richardson to also include tighter controls on predatory home lending on the agenda for the special session. She said points charged on home loans — and especially refinanced loans — have exceeded the points and fees that were mandated by the Home Loan Protection Act passed by the Legislature in 2004. She wants a short-term fix in the special session until lawmakers can consider a long-term fix during next year’s 60-day session.
“This is a perfect complement to what the governor wants to achieve in the special session in providing tax relief to hard-working, tax-paying citizens,” Denish said in the release.
This posting has been corrected to include accurate information about Richardson’s tax-rebate proposal.
It appears that Gov. Bill Richardson may change his mind yet again on when he wants to hold a special session.