{"id":2739,"date":"2008-01-15T09:11:00","date_gmt":"2008-01-15T15:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/01\/full-agenda-power-struggle-could-color-2008-session\/"},"modified":"2008-01-15T09:11:00","modified_gmt":"2008-01-15T15:11:00","slug":"full-agenda-power-struggle-could-color-2008-session","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/01\/full-agenda-power-struggle-could-color-2008-session\/","title":{"rendered":"Full agenda, power struggle could color 2008 session"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A number of factors make it difficult to predict the outcome of the 30-day legislative session<\/a> that begins at noon today: <\/p>\n

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

\u2022 At the top of the list is the mood of Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a>. Fresh off a failed presidential campaign, is the governor looking to pump up his r\u00e9sum\u00e9 with some hot-button policy changes so he can secure another job in Washington<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>? Or will a new Richardson<\/st1:city> emerge, one who is more amenable to compromise because he wants to serve out his term in Santa Fe<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> with success?<\/p>\n

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

\n

\u2022 Is the Senate as prepared to take on the governor as some lawmakers believe? The Senate called the shots during the 2007 regular session, and many Senate leaders are ready to exert even more influence this year. But the governor will be more involved than he was last year, when he was just getting his presidential campaign off the ground. The dynamic between the governor and Senate is further complicated by the fact that Tim Jennings<\/a> of Roswell<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, one of the governor\u2019s most outspoken critics, is taking over as president pro tem this year.<\/p>\n

\n

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

\u2022 Every lawmaker in the state except those who opt to retire is up for re-election this year. Will any of them really want to tackle controversial policy issues in a year that voters are going to judge their performance?<\/p>\n

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

The agenda is a full one, especially for a 30-day session. All agree that there isn\u2019t a lot of new money, so there should be agreement that the budget can\u2019t increase too much. But what proposals won\u2019t be funded?<\/p>\n

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

Health-care reform, ethics reform and domestic partner benefits are expected to top the governor\u2019s agenda. A proposal to change the school-funding formula will also be considered, as will a plan to provide an alternate path to the ballot for major-party candidates who don\u2019t secure 20 percent at their party\u2019s preprimary nominating conventions.<\/p>\n

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

There\u2019s also the $500 million shortfall in state road funding, and the need to fix a kink in the state\u2019s new minimum wage law. Don\u2019t be surprised if the commuter rail and spaceport again become issues. In addition, many lawmakers want greater legislative oversight of those in the executive branch who create industry-regulating rules. The last is one of five official goals of House Republicans.<\/p>\n

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

It won\u2019t all get done<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Already getting a headache? So are many lawmakers. There\u2019s no way this is all getting done in 30 days.<\/p>\n

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

Many express doubt that health-care reform alone can be accomplished during the short session. There will be competing proposals and a wide variety of opinions on what should be done, and the governor obviously hasn\u2019t spent the last few months selling his plan and building the sort of consensus many lawmakers think would be required to secure approval of a far-reaching policy shift in a 30-day session.<\/p>\n

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

Ethics reform had a difficult time last year, and there\u2019s no reason to believe anything has changed that. The same is true of domestic partner benefits.<\/p>\n

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

Which raises the possibility of a special session. If Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> is looking for approval of some prestige-building legislation and doesn\u2019t get it during the regular session, he may try to force lawmakers to give it to him by calling them back. Then again, special sessions have almost always been disastrous for this governor, and you\u2019d think he would figure that out at some point.<\/p>\n

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

However, since it\u2019s an election year, lawmakers aren\u2019t going to want to come back to Santa Fe<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> when they need to be in their districts campaigning. Several lawmakers \u2013 at least two in Las Cruces, two in Albuquerque and two in Roswell \u2013 have hotly contested primaries to get to as soon as the session is over. They might be in the mood to give Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> a little so they can go home.<\/p>\n

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

Then again, as I wrote earlier, the Senate is apparently prepared to take a stand against what its leaders are calling executive encroachment on its power. We could see a stalemate in which no one is willing to blink.<\/p>\n

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

See why it\u2019s so difficult to predict what\u2019s going to happen? The factors at play in the 2008 Legislature are going to make for an interesting, and possibly painful, session.<\/p>\n

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

We\u2019ll know more later today. The governor is scheduled to give his state of the state address at approximately 1 p.m. You can watch it live by clicking here<\/a>, and I\u2019ll have complete coverage later today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A number of factors make it difficult to predict the outcome of the 30-day legislative session that begins at noon today: \u2022 At the top of the list is the mood of Gov. Bill Richardson. Fresh off a failed presidential campaign, is the governor looking to pump up his r\u00e9sum\u00e9 with some hot-button policy changes […]<\/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-2739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2739","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=2739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2739\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}