Senate Dem leaders call for special session in the fall

Hours after Gov. Bill Richardson threatened to hold a special session for universal health care in May because of a lack of progress on the topic by Senate leaders, the top Senate Democrats endorsed the idea of a special session but said it should be held no sooner than the fall.

“Every New Mexican deserves to be able to get good, affordable health care when they need it. We are committed to making sure that happens,” Senate President Tim Jennings, D-Roswell, said in a news release. “The reforms necessary to achieve that goal are quite complex and need to be worked out over time.”

“Several members of the state Senate have been meeting and will continue to meet in the coming months to help forge an agreement on the difficult question of how best to approach or pay for health-care reforms,” said Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen. “I expect that groundwork can be completed by the end of the summer and that a special session could convene as early as this fall.”

Earlier today, I reported on Richardson’s threat to call the session in May because he said Senate leaders have met only once to discuss universal health care and have made no progress. The House approved a version of Richardson’s plan earlier this year, but the Senate didn’t touch it.

The news release said Sanchez and Jennings are part of a bipartisan group of senators who have been meeting with the governor and his staff in anticipation of a special session on health-care reform. They said their understanding has been that the session would be held in the late summer or fall.

That’s what Richardson said at the end of February after meeting with Senate leaders. It was only today that he said he had changed his mind because of their lack of progress.

But Sanchez said it’s important “to reach an agreement on as many aspects of this issue as possible before convening a special session.”

“We’re making progress and I’m hopeful that in a few more months we can hold a productive special session that will get us closer to our goal,” Sanchez said.

Jennings and Sanchez said agreement still needs to be reached on numerous details, as well as on the broad and preliminary questions of the urgency of the problem and the proper roles of the government and private sector in addressing them.

The state’s economy also has to be considered, Jennings said. He noted that new state revenue estimates are due in June and the Legislature and governor should take that information into account when considering implementation of potentially costly health-care reforms.

“We should also take a look at the experience in Massachusetts, which recently enacted universal health care,” Jennings said.