The governor’s office says an ongoing federal probe into allegations of pay to pay isn’t the reason Bill Richardson skipped a weekend meeting of the National Governors Association.
“The governor felt that he needed to be here in New Mexico because of the possibility of a vote on domestic partnerships and because lawmakers were working on budget issues over the weekend,” said Alarie Ray-Garcia, Richardson’s deputy communications director.
The Washington Post has noted that two prominent governors — Richardson and Alaska’s Sarah Palin — skipped the weekend of meetings in Washington related to the stimulus package, which included a black-tie dinner at the White House and a meeting with President Barack Obama.
And the Post noted the context of Richardson’s absence: The governor “withdrew in January as Obama’s commerce secretary nominee amid a federal ‘pay to play’ investigation.”
Richardson has a history of traveling out of state while the Legislature is in session and insisting that he can keep track of the business being in conducted in Santa Fe via phone and through staffers who remain at the Roundhouse.
In fact, in March 2007, when he was running for president, Richardson called lawmakers into special session for an agenda that included domestic partner benefits, and then left the state to attend a fundraiser in California. That caused a lot of angry feelings among lawmakers.