Senate approves scaled-back tax, health-care bills

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The state Senate today approved smaller tax rebates than those proposed by Gov. Bill Richardson and a scaled back health-care bill, again rejecting the governor’s plan. On a vote of 36-2, the Senate approved a bill that would give more than 700,000 taxpayers rebates. Each person making $30,000 per year would receive $50 under the bill approved by the Senate. “This funding provides New Mexico’s single mothers, senior citizens and people having trouble making ends meet some relief,” Sen. Bernadette Sanchez, D-Albuquerque and the bill’s sponsor, said in a news release. “Higher prices at the gasoline pump and higher food costs at the grocery store are placing a tremendous burden our single-parent and working-parent families. Continue Reading

Obama praises guv during campaign event in ABQ

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With the biggest political question of the week being who Barack Obama will choose to be his running mate, the Democratic presidential candidate had strong praise for Gov. Bill Richardson during an appearance earlier today in Albuquerque. Obama called Richardson “one of the finest public servants of our generation, somebody who has done so much.” “You know, he can’t fit everything on one résumé,” Obama told a crowd of about 2,000 people at Rio Grande High School in Albuquerque’s South Valley. The Obama campaign and Richardson’s staff aren’t commenting on the VP process, but speculation has increased in recent days that Richardson has found his way onto Obama’s short list. Obama also had high praise for U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman and Rep. Tom Udall, who, like Richardson, were with him at the town-hall meeting. In praising Bingaman, his Senate colleague, Obama said, “If you look up in the dictionary the word gentleman, you would see this man’s face.” He asked the crowd to give Udall, the Democrats’ U.S. Senate candidate, “a big round of applause and your vote.” That was the second of two events Obama held in Albuquerque today. Continue Reading

Another nonprofit takes issue with AG’s advice

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I wrote last week that the secretary of state’s decision on whether to force New Mexico Youth Organized (NMYO) to comply with the state’s campaign reporting laws could have far-reaching implications in New Mexico. One of the organizations such a decision would ostensibly affect, SouthWest Organizing Project (SWOP), has some strong words in a blog posting on its Web site about a potential decision to classify groups like it as political committees. “We know the rules and we follow the rules. As a non-partisan organization we have been diligent and careful about our advocacy efforts. We are confident that in nearly 30 years of existence we have never crossed the line,” the posting from the group states. Continue Reading

Special session update: Senators blast governor

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There’s a lot happening quickly during the special session of the Legislature underway in Santa Fe. I’m not there, but here are a few updates: • The most interesting moment thus far came Sunday when a number of senators blasted Gov. Bill Richardson for what they said are political motivations for forcing them to be in Santa Fe. “I really have no earthly idea why we are in this building except to serve the political purposes of this governor,” Senate President Pro Tem Tim Jennings, D-Roswell, said during a hearing on Richardson’s proposal to provide health care to every child in the state. The Albuquerque Journal has the goods on the Senate tabling the bill. Some senators, according to the Journal, plan to introduce a substitute that does far less than Richardson proposes. Continue Reading

Udall agrees to four debates with Pearce

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Following weeks of being called a debate ducker by his Republican opponent, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tom Udall has agreed to four debates — one more than he originally said he would participate in. Udall’s campaign released a schedule on Saturday that includes three debates in Albuquerque in October and a fourth debate on NBC’s Meet the Press at a date that has yet to be announced. “We feel this schedule gives the people of New Mexico plenty of opportunity to see the candidates side by side,” Udall spokeswoman Marissa Padilla said. “(Republican opponent) Steve Pearce was more focused on theatrics and playing politics than on answering for his record on the issues. Now he has nothing left to hide behind.” Pearce, who has hammered Udall on the topic of debates for some time, had originally demanded three debates, and Udall agreed. Continue Reading

Club for Growth attacks Udall in new TV ad

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The right-wing Club for Growth is out with a new TV ad in New Mexico attacking Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tom Udall and urging him to support increased domestic drilling. Here’s the 30-second ad: The ad chastises Udall for having voted against offshore drilling while also voting “for more government power to take private property” and “to keep the Death Tax,” according to a news release from the group. “For Tom Udall, if it’s private property, he thinks the government should take it; if someone dies, Tom Udall thinks the government should tax it; but if it’s American oil, he thinks the government should leave it in the ground,” the news release states. It’s a line that’s similar to one used in the TV ad. The group is spending $150,000 to run the ad for two weeks. Continue Reading

Newspaper takes a look at Domenici’s legacy

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The Las Cruces Sun-News published on Sunday what will be one of many parting profiles of U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici before he leaves office at the end of the year. The Sun-News is one of the first to take an in-depth look at Domenici’s legacy because New Mexico State University is hosting the Domenici Public Policy Conference from Wednesday to Friday. Domenici for some reason declined to talk about his career during an interview with the Sun-News, but he did say he’s looking forward to the conference. “We’ve been very successful in getting people who I personally thought would be well-respected and that I had great confidence and admiration for,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. “I think that by the time we’re finished, it will be a rather exciting time.” Read the article by clicking here. Continue Reading

Clinton stands with Richardson in Española

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During her visit to Española on Sunday, former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton talked, in an interview with reporters, about campaigning alongside Gov. Bill Richardson for the Democrats’ nominee, Barack Obama. “We’re both Democrats. We both share a lot of the same values,” Clinton said of Richardson. “… We campaigned against each other during the primary and now we’re campaigning with each other for Sen. Obama.” That’s significant because of the stir Richardson, a former cabinet secretary in the administration of Clinton’s husband, created when he endorsed Obama over her in the primary. Listen to the full interview from the New Mexico Independent. Continue Reading

Most voters in poll say Lujan will be re-elected

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The majority of those who voted in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site said state Rep. Antonio Lujan, D-Las Cruces, will be re-elected in November. Of 140 voters, 90, or 64 percent, said the District 35 representative will win, while 50, or 36 percent, said he will be defeated by his Republican challenger, Matthew Martin. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

McCain to hold town hall at NMSU on Wednesday

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Republican presidential candidate John McCain will make his first trip to Las Cruces as a 2008 presidential candidate on Wednesday. McCain will hold a town-hall meeting with several hundred people Wednesday morning at the New Mexico State University Annex Practice Gymnasium at the Pan American Center, according to an e-mail from his campaign. The e-mail provided few details, but did say that doors open at 8:30 a.m. and guests must be seated by 9:30 a.m. It said those who attend should enter on the northeast side of the facility. To RSVP, the e-mail states, people should e-mail csierra@mccain08hq.com. This will be McCain’s third trip to New Mexico as a 2008 presidential candidate. Continue Reading

Obama to hold two events in Albuquerque on Monday

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Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s Monday trip to New Mexico will consist of two events in Albuquerque. Obama will hold an invitation-only discussion on the economy on Monday morning in Albuquerque. Because the event is not open to the public, the campaign isn’t releasing the location to the public. At 1 p.m., Obama is holding a town-hall meeting in the gymnasium at Rio Grande High School, 2300 Arenal Road in Albuquerque.The event is free and open to the public but tickets are required and are available on a first-come, first-served basis. All online tickets have already been snatched up, but you can try to pick tickets up from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at Obama’s volunteer headquarters, 3523 Central Ave. Continue Reading

Senate strips funding for mail expenses from feed bill

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The bill to fund the special session of the Legislature will have to go back to the House for concurrence after senators removed a House-approved provision to provide each lawmaker approximately $300 for mailing constituents during the session. House Bill 1, the feed bill, is now awaiting new House action. The bill was amended Friday evening by the House Appropriations and Finance Committee to extend the length of the session to a maximum of 10 days and include the $35,233 for mailing expenses. The House approved the bill on a vote of 47-14. But the Senate wouldn’t have it. Continue Reading

Secretary of state to send letter to nonprofit Monday

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The secretary of state’s office has drafted a letter it plans to send Monday morning to New Mexico Youth Organized (NMYO), a nonprofit the attorney general’s office says must comply with the state’s campaign reporting laws. James Flores, spokesman for the secretary of state, did not reveal information about the content of the letter but said the office’s attorneys are reviewing the letter before sending it via certified mail on Monday. The news follows an afternoon meeting between officials from the offices of the secretary of state and attorney general about the situation. The attorney general contends that mailers the group sent shortly after the regular legislative session — two to three months before the June primary — targeting several lawmakers, including three who lost, crossed the line between issue advocacy and political campaigning. Because of that, the AG’s office contends, the nonprofit must register as a political committee and regularly report contributions and expenditures publicly, just like candidates, campaigns and political action committees. Continue Reading

Special session gets underway

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The special session of the Legislature that Gov. Bill Richardson called for several issues including health-care reform and tax relief is underway. The Senate convened briefly today before taking a break, but senators plan to return at 2:30 p.m. According to The Santa Fe New Mexican’s Kate Nash, Majority Leader Michael Sanchez said on the floor that the Senate also plans to work on Saturday. The House is in recess but might return to work around 3 p.m., the New Mexico Independent is reporting. There apparently aren’t the votes in the Senate to defy the governor and adjourn sine die, so expect something to happen this session. But expect it to happen quickly. Continue Reading

Paper profiles Doña Ana County’s role in prez race

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A couple of months ago, a reporter from the Rocky Mountain News in Denver contacted me to ask what story the newspaper could tell about New Mexico in the 2008 presidential race that wasn’t being told by other media outlets. I suggested that she skip Albuquerque, one of the main battleground areas in New Mexico, and instead come to Doña Ana County. She did, and the result is a fantastic journalistic package that includes an in-depth article, good photographs and video that tells a story about the culture and demographics of Doña Ana County in the context of the 2008 presidential race. I’ve written several times about this Democratic stronghold being conservative and Hillary country and about the difficulty that creates for Barack Obama in the presidential race. The Rocky Mountain News captured that reality well. Continue Reading