{"id":2911,"date":"2008-02-25T11:29:00","date_gmt":"2008-02-25T17:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/02\/guv-pushed-on-planned-cruces-veterans-museum\/"},"modified":"2008-02-25T11:29:00","modified_gmt":"2008-02-25T17:29:00","slug":"guv-pushed-on-planned-cruces-veterans-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/02\/guv-pushed-on-planned-cruces-veterans-museum\/","title":{"rendered":"Guv pushed on planned Cruces veterans museum"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a> is drawing sharp criticism and heavy lobbying after saying on Friday that he hasn\u2019t decided whether to sign a bill that would create a veterans museum in Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>. <\/p>\n

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

Sen. Leonard Lee Rawson<\/a>, R-Las Cruces and the sponsor of Senate Bill 349<\/a>, said Richardson<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> previously promised in front of several witnesses to sign the bill. In addition, he said, two of the governor\u2019s cabinet secretaries testified in support of the bill during the session.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cHow can he not honor his word? This should in itself be the end of the discussion,\u201d Rawson wrote in an e-mail. \u201cHis commitment and word are evidenced by the fact that both the secretary of the Department of Veteran\u2019s Affairs and the secretary of the Department of Cultural Affairs were actively testifying in support of the bill.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>Richardson<\/st1:city> told reporters during a visit to Las Cruces<\/st1:city> on Friday that he had received negative reaction from veterans around the state \u2013 which he later clarified to mean Rio Rancho \u2013 to the museum being in Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, so he hadn\u2019t made a decision on whether to sign the bill.<\/p>\n

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

The Las Cruces Sun-News urged Richardson<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> in a Saturday editorial<\/a> to sign the bill. Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima<\/a> is calling on constituents to lobby the governor.<\/p>\n

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

Here are the facts: Six of the state\u2019s eight museums are north of Interstate 40. One third of New Mexico<\/st1:state>\u2019s veterans live in Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place>. The local delegation has already secured $1.5 million in capital outlay for the museum and a $200,000 annual operating budget.<\/p>\n

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

That\u2019s why the Legislature approved the bill. That\u2019s why Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s staffers pushed for approval of the bill. There had been widespread agreement on locating the museum in Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>.<\/p>\n

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

So what\u2019s going on?<\/p>\n

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

It\u2019s no secret that Rawson and Richardson have been at odds with each other for years, but their relationship has been especially contentious this year as the Senate and executive are locked in a power struggle. Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> is currently looking for bargaining chips to get reluctant lawmakers to approve or at least seriously consider his health-care plan.<\/p>\n

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

He\u2019s meeting with Senate leaders on Thursday to try to work out an agreement on when to hold a special session for health-care reform. Rawson, the minority whip, told me he won\u2019t even attend the meeting.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cWhy should I go to Santa Fe<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> just to tell him \u2018no?\u2019\u201d Rawson asked.<\/p>\n

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

Rawson isn\u2019t alone. Few believe a special session, at this point, would lead to serious health-care reform.<\/p>\n

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

\n

In the meantime, the state\u2019s veterans have been promised a museum. The majority of legislators and two of the governor\u2019s cabinet secretaries have already agreed that Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> is the best place for it. The state\u2019s veterans deserve better than the use of their planned museum as a political bargaining chip.<\/p>\n

\n

Update, 1 p.m.<\/p>\n

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

State Rep. Jeff Steinborn<\/a>, D-Las Cruces, who carried a mirror version<\/a> of Rawson\u2019s bill in the House, said Richardson told him and Rawson he supported making Do\u00f1a Ana County the home of the state veterans museum. Steinborn said it was he who crafted the legislation along with the state\u2019s Cultural Affairs Department.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cNobody has done more for the veterans of New Mexico<\/st1:State><\/st1:place> than Gov. Richardson and I know his administration shares the dream of telling veterans\u2019 stories,\u201d Steinborn said. \u201cThe governor has also said to both myself and Sen. Rawson that he was supportive of Do\u00f1a<\/st1:PlaceName> Ana<\/st1:PlaceName> County<\/st1:PlaceName><\/st1:place> being the home of this museum. He just wants to make sure it\u2019s done right. We believe we\u2019ve done that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI\u2019m hopeful that the governor will continue to be supportive of Do\u00f1a<\/st1:PlaceName> Ana<\/st1:PlaceName> County<\/st1:PlaceName><\/st1:place> being the home of this new state museum,\u201d Steinborn said.<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gov. Bill Richardson is drawing sharp criticism and heavy lobbying after saying on Friday that he hasn\u2019t decided whether to sign a bill that would create a veterans museum in Las Cruces. Sen. Leonard Lee Rawson, R-Las Cruces and the sponsor of Senate Bill 349, said Richardson previously promised in front of several witnesses to […]<\/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-2911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2911","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=2911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2911\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}