{"id":1435,"date":"2007-03-17T14:48:00","date_gmt":"2007-03-17T20:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/03\/richardson-calls-special-session-for-ethics-reform\/"},"modified":"2007-03-17T14:48:00","modified_gmt":"2007-03-17T20:48:00","slug":"richardson-calls-special-session-for-ethics-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/03\/richardson-calls-special-session-for-ethics-reform\/","title":{"rendered":"Richardson calls special session for ethics reform"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>While proclaiming this the most successful legislative session in the state\u2019s history, Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a> announced less than an hour after its end that he will call lawmakers back to Santa Fe on Tuesday for a special session that will deal with a number of issues, including ethics reform. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI want to do what\u2019s right, and we\u2019re on a roll, so let\u2019s continue,\u201d Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said at a news conference that followed the end of the session. \u201cThe main reason I\u2019m calling a special session is I want a complete ethics package.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The Legislature approved a gift ban and amendments to the Governmental Conduct Act, but on a vote of 21-20 the Senate killed a proposal to limit campaign contributions minutes before the end of the session. In addition to that proposal, Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said he wants approval of an ethics commission and a public financing system for judicial races.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> will also push for the approval of more than $200 million for road projects, the creation of a methamphetamine registry, approval of domestic partner benefits and a water infrastructure bill.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

And, he said, he might add a couple more items to the list before the Legislature convenes at noon on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The road bill includes $25 million to create a highway from Interstate 25 to Spaceport America<\/a>. Richardson<\/st1:city> said approval of that funding is important in advance of the April 3 election in Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place> on whether to raise the gross receipts tax to help fund the spaceport.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cVoters in Southern New Mexico want assurances that the state is keeping its commitment to build a road to the spaceport,\u201d Richardson<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

A collective, exhausted, sigh<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

At the news conference, officials didn\u2019t sound too happy about the special session, but pledged to work with Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI look forward to it. I think I look forward to the special session. Let me say that with a little more gusto,\u201d Lt. Gov. Diane Denish<\/a> said, before repeating herself with more enthusiasm.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

A number of lawmakers are leaving the state or country this afternoon. House Minority Whip Tom Taylor<\/a>, R-Farmington, said lawmakers are exhausted following the 60-day session and many plan \u201csome serious R and R.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s probably not the best timing in the world,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m pretty tired.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

No one wanted to predict how long the special session will last. Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said he hopes it will be \u201cdone rapidly.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cMy hope is it will be just a few days,\u201d Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Matt Brix, executive director of Common Cause New Mexico<\/a>, said in an interview that he believes the public will be disappointed by Legislature\u2019s failure to act on many ethics reform proposals. He said the special session \u201cis a very good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cWe barely took a baby step,\u201d he said about the ethics reforms approved during the regular session.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

All agree session was productive<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Regardless of what\u2019s left to be done, a bipartisan group of lawmakers agreed with Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> that this was a productive session. Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> listed the minimum wage increase, tax cuts, clean energy proposals, the new gaming compacts and the overhaul of the regional housing authority system among the most important accomplishments.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Taylor and Minority Whip Dan Foley<\/a>, R-Roswell, also spoke with pride about the housing authority overhaul. Their work to keep the proposal alive was critical to the compromise.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

That was one of several issues on which House Republicans exhibited incredible organization and cohesiveness that allowed them to play a key role in many issues this year.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cWithout question, the biggest accomplishment for us was to get our caucus together,\u201d Taylor<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Foley agreed.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cNo one doubted that we have the ability to put up a fight,\u201d he said. \u201cNow we\u2019ve shown them that we have the ability to work together.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Speaker of the House Ben Lujan<\/a> and others said that aided negotiations on the housing overhaul and a number of other issues.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI agree that we have accomplished the most ever,\u201d he said. \u201cIt hasn\u2019t been easy. We\u2019ve had our share of challenges and differences. \u2026 We prevailed by working together.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Senate President Pro Tem Ben Altamirano<\/a>, D-Silver<\/st1:placename> City<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place>, agreed.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI was very happy about what happened this session,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Signs that all is not well?<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

While about a dozen House members attended the governor\u2019s news conference, Altamirano was the only senator who was present. He made reference to not knowing about it in time to make an announcement before the Senate adjourned, but the absence of senators was even noted by Denish in her remarks. It raised the question: Did Richardson not invite senators because he was upset that they failed to approve many of the initiatives he wants in the special session, or did they stay away because they don\u2019t support the special session?<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Or was their absence only a sign that they are tired and didn\u2019t want to stick around?<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> took a shot at some members of the Senate during the news conference, making reference to the 15-minute recess taken in the last hour of the session so Democrats could meet in caucus.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThere seemed to be some senators who didn\u2019t want to take a vote on (the road bill),\u201d Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said. \u201cThere was one senator who was absent and nobody could find him.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

He also expressed disappointment in the Senate for not approving more ethics reforms.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Will gestures of goodwill pay off?<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Several lawmakers, most notably Taylor and Foley, noted that Richardson and his staff were easier to work with this session. Several mentioned the fact that Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> didn\u2019t veto any capital outlay this year.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to create goodwill, and capital outlay is very important to legislators,\u201d Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Taylor said that, in light of Richardson\u2019s presidential run, \u201cit was evident that he was focusing on issues this year\u201d and paying less attention to capital outlay, and said that made it easier to deal with Richardson.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThat changes the tone,\u201d Taylor<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Richardson<\/st1:city> touted those \u201cissues\u201d during his news conference, and Foley said Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s willingness to work with Republicans \u201chelped get buy-in from the minority party on a lot of issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In the House, many Republicans voted to approve a number of the ethics reform proposals. It was in the Senate that a bipartisan group of lawmakers stalled them.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Taylor<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> called the ethics bills \u201cfine\u201d and said he\u2019s open to debating them again, saying even the fact that they\u2019re being discussed challenges public officials to act in a more ethical manner.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Brix said ethics reform is necessary not necessarily because there is rampant corruption, but because \u201cthe public wants it and because it\u2019s the right thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said the ethics proposals have to be approved.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is support for ethics reform around the state,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While proclaiming this the most successful legislative session in the state\u2019s history, Gov. Bill Richardson announced less than an hour after its end that he will call lawmakers back to Santa Fe on Tuesday for a special session that will deal with a number of issues, including ethics reform. \u201cI want to do what\u2019s right, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1435\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}