Governor gets budget with time for veto overrides

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The Legislature has sent the state budget to Gov. Bill Richardson for a signature in time to force him to act and still have an opportunity to override line-item vetoes before adjourning on Saturday. The House agreed to the compromises reached in a secret conference committee on Saturday with no debate, the Associated Press reported. Richardson has three days to act on the $5.65 billion state budget, or it becomes law without his signature. The quick approval of the budget was sought by some lawmakers so they would have time to override vetoes – a topic that has been a sore spot for many who have opposed Richardson and felt the wrath of his veto pen in the past. The conference committee made minor changes to the bill, the news service reported, in adding $8 million in programs and trimming $2 million from other programs. I’m still trying to find out whether lawmakers agreed to provide $500,000 to fund a state ethics commission, or killed the proposal by refusing to fund it. Continue Reading

Compromise reached on minimum wage increase

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The House and Senate appear to have reached a compromise on competing proposals to raise the state’s minimum wage. Essentially, the House gave in and agreed to most provisions the Senate wanted in approving the proposal on a vote of 40-29 on Saturday. As it stands now, Senate Bill 324, sponsored by Senate President Pro Tem Ben Altamirano, D-Silver City, would raise the minimum wage to $6.50 per hour in January 2008 and $7.50 per hour a year after that. It does not allow automatic cost-of-living increases and exempts agricultural workers. It prevents cities and counties that haven’t already raised their minimum wages above the state’s from doing so until 2010. Continue Reading

State GOP chair urged White House to fire Iglesias

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The chair of the Republican Party of New Mexico says he urged two White House staffers, including Bush political adviser Karl Rove, to fire former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, raising new questions about the White House’s involvement in the decision. In an interview with McClatchy Newspapers, Allen Weh said he complained in 2005 to a Rove aide about Iglesias, then, during a late 2006 visit to the White House, asked Rove about it. “Is anything ever going to happen to that guy?” Weh told the news service he asked Rove. “He’s gone,” Weh claims Rove replied. “I probably said something close to ‘Hallelujah,’” Weh told the news service. Continue Reading

Campos explains opposition to housing overhaul

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State Rep. Jose Campos, D-Santa Rosa, says he is working to defeat a proposal to remake the state’s affordable housing system because it’s too early to pass judgment on the housing authority system that crumbled last year in scandal. Campos has been passing out prior audits of some of the state’s seven housing authority regions to lawmakers this week as part of a campaign to defeat legislation that would scrap the authorities and replace them with a system overseen by the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority. He’s also one of six Democrats on the House Business and Industry Committee who voted on Sunday to table one of two bills that would put an end to the housing authorities. The legislation would also fund in-depth audits of each region by the Legislative Finance Committee, but Campos said he doesn’t want the LFC doing such an audit, and doesn’t trust a prior, damning report issued by the State Investment Council, which he said “is trying to cover their rear and they’re just going to put out whatever they can to cover it.” “I want an independent audit,” Campos said. “This is all political. Continue Reading

Scandal injects uncertainty into New Mexico politics

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At this point, it’s difficult to size up the impact of the scandal surrounding phone calls Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson made to former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, but that uncertainty, because of what’s at stake, has been enough to rock New Mexico politics. The scandal has the potential to set off a domino effect in which a number of state and local officials make runs at higher offices. Then again, it’s possible that nothing will happen. If you need a quick refresher on what’s been going on, click here. For the newest on the national implications, click here. Continue Reading

Cockfighting ban awaits Richardson’s signature

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A statewide ban on cockfighting is now awaiting the signature of Gov. Bill Richardson. The Senate voted 27-6 today to accept minor changes made to the bill by the House, which approved the ban Thursday. Senate Bill 10, sponsored by Sen. Mary Jane Garcia, D-Doña Ana, makes the first offense a petty misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison. A second offense is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison, and further offenses are fourth-degree felonies punishable by up to 18 months in prison. Once Richardson signs the bill, which he has said he will do, Louisiana will be the only state in the nation that doesn’t outlaw cockfighting. Continue Reading

Spaceport tax ramifications cannot be overstated

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There is widespread agreement that Spaceport America should be built; what is contentious is the proposal to raise the gross receipts tax in three counties to help fund it. This is the first in a series of guest columns I will run before the April 3 election on whether to raise the gross receipts tax in Doña Ana County to help fund the spaceport. I will run one in support of the tax increase, followed by one in opposition, back and forth, and plan to publish a roughly equal number on each side. Public officials and other readers are invited to participate in this debate. To submit a guest column for publication, e-mail me at heath@haussamen.com. Continue Reading

Affordable housing overhaul supporters push bills

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The entire House Republican caucus and four Democrats have signed on to a new bill dropped late Thursday that would fund a widespread investigation of the state housing authority scandal by the Legislative Finance Committee and attorney general. In addition, the lieutenant governor is working to push through other proposals to overhaul the state’s affordable housing system. The new bill comes in response to recent moves most believe are attempts to kill other bills that would overhaul the affordable housing system. The Business and Industry Committee tabled House Bill 997, sponsored by Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones, R-Albuquerque, on Sunday. Then on Monday, Speaker of the House Ben Lujan moved its mirror bill, Senate Bill 519, sponsored by Sen. Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, to the same committee, which has not scheduled a hearing on the bill. Continue Reading

Senate approves statewide smoking ban

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A statewide ban on smoking in most public buildings was approved by the Senate on Thursday. House Bill 283, sponsored by Rep. Al Park, D-Albuquerque, now heads back to the House for concurrence after minor changes were made by a Senate committee. The House unanimously approved the bill last month. The Senate approved the ban on a vote of 27-9. “This is a monumental step toward better health for all New Mexicans,” Park said. Continue Reading

House approves statewide cockfighting ban

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On a vote of 49-20, the House has just approved a statewide ban on cockfighting. Minor amendments that cleaned up language in the bill, made by the House Agriculture and Water Resources Committee, mean it must return to the Senate for concurrence. The Senate previously approved the measure on a vote of 31-11, and Gov. Bill Richardson has said he will sign it. Senate Bill 10, sponsored by Sen. Mary Jane Garcia, D-Doña Ana, makes the first offense a petty misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison. A second offense is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison, and further offenses are fourth-degree felonies punishable by up to 18 months in prison. Continue Reading

Richardson signs surface owners protection act

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Gov. Bill Richardson signed today a bill that would require oil and gas companies to pay landowners for damage to their property caused by drilling. House Bill 827, sponsored by Rep. Andy Nuñez, D-Hatch, is a compromise on an issue that has been contentious for years but, in the end, actually had the endorsement of the oil and gas industry and ranchers. Under the compromise, the bill protects landowners who don’t own the mineral rights below their land, which is common in New Mexico. It requires the oil and gas industry to notify landowners 30 days prior to any oil and gas operations, to describe the operations, and to propose a surface use and compensation agreement. The landowner then has 20 days to accept, negotiate or reject the offer. Continue Reading

New Mexico won’t force impeachment proceedings

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New Mexico won’t be the state that sets in motion impeachment proceedings against President George W. Bush after nine Senate Democrats voted with Republicans today to kill a resolution that would have started the process. The resolution, if approved by the Senate and House, would have forced the U.S. House of Representatives to debate whether Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney should be impeached. The vote to kill the resolution was 26-13. Technically, the Senate didn’t vote on whether to approve the resolution. The vote was to reject the Senate Judiciary Committee report that sent the bill to the Senate floor for a vote. Continue Reading

Opponents disingenuously use outdated audits in campaign against affordable housing overhaul

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Opponents of a bill that would remake the state’s affordable housing system are passing out a series of outdated audits in an apparent attempt to argue that the system doesn’t need a complete overhaul. Meanwhile Senate Bill 519, sponsored by Sen. Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, has not yet been scheduled for a hearing in the House Business and Industry Committee. Speaker of the House Ben Lujan and that committee have made moves in recent days most believe are designed to kill the proposal, though Lujan says that’s not his intent. On Sunday the committee, after at least two of its Democratic members spoke privately with Lujan, tabled the House version of Papen’s bill. Then on Monday, Lujan moved Papen’s bill from the Judiciary Committee to the Business and Industry Committee. Continue Reading

Chávez says Wilson won’t win another N.M. election

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Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez says U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., won’t win another election in New Mexico. His comments come in response to the growing scandal over allegations that Wilson and Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., pressured former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias to speed indictments in a public corruption scandal in time to sway voters in the November 2006 election. Chávez was quoted today by Congressional Quarterly, which is read by members of Congress and politicos in the nation’s capital and beyond, on the impact the scandal will have on Wilson’s career. “Heather Wilson will no longer be elected in New Mexico,” he said, adding that her actions were “reprehensible.” I was also interviewed for and quoted in the article. Chávez is a prominent Democrat who is currently raising money for a potential 2010 gubernatorial run against Lt. Gov. Diane Denish. Continue Reading

Richardson works to earn American Indian support

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Gov. Bill Richardson is working hard to earn the support of American Indians for his presidential bid. Since announcing his presidential run on Jan. 21, Richardson has made a series of visible moves that clearly support the causes of American Indians. George Hardeen, communications director for the Office of the President and Vice President of the Navajo Nation, said that’s nothing new: Richardson, he said, has provided “consistent support” for Navajos in his years in elected office, and that has won him many friends. “There’s always been a good deal of support for Gov. Richardson,” Hardeen said. Continue Reading