Gov. Bill Richardson announced today that he will call lawmakers into a special session for health-care reform, tax relief and road funding on Aug. 15.
That’s 10 days before Democrats gather in
“New Mexicans need relief now,”
Though many lawmakers say there isn’t support for universal health care, and
“We are ready to move forward with health-care reform and cover more New Mexicans,”
Richardson had been saying for months that the session would deal only with health-care reform, but recently added the relief and road-funding packages after Legislative Finance Committee Chairman John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, publicly called for both.
Windfall oil and gas revenues have the state in a good financial position, but Smith and others say that isn’t money the state can count on in future budget years, so it should not be spent on costly health-care reform.