Cost-saving ideas emerge out of frustration

While lawmakers in Santa Fe are starting to express frustration on limitations imposed on them by Gov. Bill Richardson’s special session proclamation, Republicans are blaming the Richardson administration for not preventing the problem in the first place.

On Tuesday, a group of Republican legislators released a list of 48 budget-cutting items they say the administration can enact without any legislative action, including releasing non-violent criminals three months early, selling the state’s jet and canceling the state’s contract for a float in the 2010 Tournament of Roses® Parade.

“The governor has the power to approve cuts in executive agencies. If he would have taken proactive steps, we would not be spending $50,000 a day debating this problem,” House Minitority Whip Keith Gardner (R-Roswell) said.

The governor’s office was quick to respond to the House Republicans.

“The same legislators who are critical of spending during the past seven years are conveniently forgetting important details about those budgets, including the overwhelmingly support from the Legislature for each of those spending plans,” a message on the governor’s blog said.

Slamming the door on early release?

But the early release of non-violent criminals, to save money, isn’t sitting well with all Republicans.

“We need less criminals on the street,” Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White said. “I would need to know how they define ‘non-violent criminal. Burglars are not classified violent, but we’re trying to take them off the street and reduce property crime in Albuquerque.”

Gardner said he would consider a burglar to be violent too, and said he doesn’t agree with all the items on the list himself.

“Were talking about people who make a ‘knucklehead decision – folks who get sent to jail for contempt of court,” Gardner said.

He said anyone who breaks the law deserves to be punished, but he’d like to consider alternative sentencing or other forms of punishment.

“We should not have people in jail that we’re mad at and need to keep people in jail that we’re scared of. The judiciary is best poised to decide who is or is not a threat to society,” Matt Kennicott a staffer with the Republican House Caucus. “Keep in mind, the point of the list is that they are ideas that the executive could have enacted to help fix the budget before calling the legislature into special session at the rate of $50,000 per day.

Getting the most 'bang for the buck'

Gardner also wondered out loud if the New Mexico Tourism Department’s participation, for the fourth time in five years, gives the state the most ‘bang for the buck?’

NM Tourism Secretary Michael Cerletti has defended the state’s participation.

“It is important that the New Mexico tourism industry does everything it can to take advantage of unique opportunities to reach potential visitors,” Cerletti said. “The exposure offered New Mexico each year is significant.”

In fact, nearly 40 million Americans in 16.5 million households watch the parade on television New Year’s day. The Parade is also broadcast live in 150 countries and territories worldwide.

Will lawmakers settle for a hodgepodge fix?

Gardner said if the structure of government isn’t changed lawmakers would be settling on a ‘hodgepodge fix.’

Lawmakers had wanted to consider a combination of expenditures and revenue measures, but the Governor isn’t willing to consider them until January.

Putting it all on the table

“We needed to have both expenditures and revenues on the table to find a combination would get us to a balanced budget as required by the Constitution,” Sen. Peter Wirth (D-Santa Fe), the Vice-Chair of the Senate Rules Committee said.

Wirth isn’t the only senator that feels that way. Several of his colleague are echoing his remarks.

“As legislators, our responsibility is to craft a balanced budget. To do that we need to consider all options; we cannot balance the Fiscal Year 2010 budget without somehow generating revenues. That’s why I voted for finding some of the tax measures germane in spite of the Proclamation’s language – something I see as restricting our constitutional duties,” Sen. Bernadette Sanchez (D-Bernalillo), Chair of the Senate Conservation Committee said.

Sounding frustrated himself, Gardner wants the governor to enact cost-saving ideas now.

“We have to quit spending, and we need to decide on more than just taking baby-steps here. We need long-term solutions. We have to act now, “ Gardner said. “Every month we don’t act we add an additional 1/12th burden, because we’ll have fewer months to recover.”

“He (the Governor) has a fiduciary responsibility to help solve this problem,” Gardner said. “He wants to spend one-time dollars, the same as a cash loan, and then he hopes the problem rights itself — if the economy improves.”

No one is making any predictions

At the conclusion of the fourth day of floor debate and caucus meetings, Gardner isn’t making any predictions when the session might adjourn.

“I want to be home by the weekend. Unfortunately, I’m not confident that we will be,” Gardner said. “If we don’t look at long-term solutions then we could get called back into session, or we’ll be dealing with the budget problems big time in the 30-day session (in January).

Sen. Papen suggests legislators reduce per diem pay

With the state's combined budget deficit, for the 2009 and 2010 fiscal years, approaching a billion dollars one Southern New Mexico senator wants her colleagues to 'share the pain" of the states' financial distress.

Sen. Mary Kay Papen (D-Dona Ana-38), has introduced a resolution asking fellow legislators to voluntarily reduce their per diem reimbursement by a minimum of ten percent for the remainder of the forty-ninth legislature.”

Her resolution notes that “while legislative agencies are included in the budget cuts, the rate of per diem reimbursement for legislators is set in the constitution of New Mexico.”

“I believe it’s important that the people of the state know that their legislators understand and are willing to share in the cuts that will need to be made in order to achieve a sound, balanced budget. And if this is done on a voluntary basis, I think it underscores the commitment of our legislators to do what is right and what is best to achieve that result,” Papen said .“A majority of Democratic Senators quickly signed onto SCR 1. I am encouraged that others will follow suit by supporting this effort. And I am hoping that we get a similar response in the House,” added Senator Papen.

If approved by the Senate, the measure then goes to the House for consideration and possible approval. The measure would not need the Governor’s signature.

Brooks says state budget can't be balanced on cuts alone

Reacting to Governor Bill Richardson's proposal to cut state education funding by 1.5 percent, Albuquerque Public Schools' Superintendent Winston Brooks said the state's largest school district might be able to handle those level of cuts and keep the spending reduction from impacting classrooms directly.

But Brooks warns 'the state's budget can’t be balanced by cutting waste alone.'

“I’ve worked in APS now for almost two years and I just don't find the waste that most people think exists there. In fact, our general administration budget is less than 1%. You can't cut that and balance any budget,” Brooks said.

The superintendent said lawmakers will ‘definitely’ have to look at revenue enhancements, but said APS might be able to handle cuts up to 3 percent.

“We have a plan to try to keep our cuts as far away from the classroom as possible. If it's any more than 3% we're in a heap of trouble,” Brooks said. If it’s more, Brooks said, “The legislature is going to have to change some legislation to allow us to use some of our SB-9 and HB-33 for operational expenses. That's a lion's share of it. The rest of it is taking stimulus money that we had planned to use for our special education and Title 1 kids and use it for our operational budget.”

Brooks said lawmakers who claim raising taxes will hurt the re-election should take a close look at the new poll by Research and Polling, Inc. for for New Mexico Education Partners which shows 81 percent of New Mexico voters don't support education cuts.

“They all say they can't raise taxes because it will hurt their election, if that be the case then I would think they would pay some attention to this poll that says if they do cut education their election is in jeopardy,” said Brooks.

Meanwhile, in a prepared statement proposing his 1.5 percent education cuts, Richardson said he made it "very clear to legislators that any cuts to education must be minimal and not affect our classrooms, kids and teachers.”

The governor credited the minimal cuts to his administration's efforts over the last seven years to keep cash reserves at 10 percent or higher.

Putting more money in the classroom

On Saturday, Rio Grande Foundation's Paul Gessing said he'd like to see more money in the classroom and less money on bureaucrats.

“New Mexico, contrary to popular belief, spends a lot of money on education. We have the eighth highest per capita spending on education in the country. There’s plenty of administrators and other highly paid folks we can look at getting rid of,” Gessing said. “We have proven that bureaucracies actually harm education results. The top five states in the country as far as results spend about 65% of their money in the classroom on education, whereas the bottom five of which surprise, surprise New Mexico is a part, along with those perennial all-stars like Louisiana and Mississippi, that we also find ourselves in the midst of, we spend 59.5% in the classroom.

Senate leader concerned with session 'limitations'

New Mexico lawmakers caucus, but adjourn after less than two hours of floor debate.

On Saturday, after opening-day discussions on the floor of the New Mexico Senate, Majority Leader Michael S. Sanchez (D-Valencia), said he's concerned with 'limitations on legislation' that the Gov. Bill Richardson spelled out in a proclamation convening the special session.

Lawmakers have gathered in Santa Fe and are settling in for a serious debate on how to curb the state's growing budget deficit and fix 2009 revenue shortfalls.

“The drop in expected state revenues has left the legislature with nothing but agonizing choices," Sanchez said. "There is no easy path to a sound budget if we are going to address the approximately $660 million needed for 2010 Fiscal Year and not cause even greater problems for the 2011 Fiscal Year.”

“The limitations on legislation ... have raised some serious concerns in the Senate about those limitations. We are reviewing those limitations to determine whether there they are so restrictive that the legislature will be able to adequately explore available options and fully carry out its constitutional duty to address the state’s budget issues. We are hoping that we can work with the Governor to find reasonable solutions for these serious fiscal issues.”

Trip Jennings at the New Mexico Independent covered the floor debate and wrote about it in his Saturday post:

Given the governor’s opposition to tax increases, why would the Committee on Committees even consider the tax bills, asked Sen. Clint Harden, R-Clovis.

In other words: “Can the committee of committees overrule the proclamation?” Harden asked Sen. Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen.

“My understanding is that we are bound by the constitution,” Sanchez answered, but, he added, “We can make a political decision if that is what we want to do,” instead of following the constitution.

Several lawmakers filed bills that would raise taxes or change the tax code minutes after Richardson’s proclamation was read out loud in the Senate. One would change how the state would collect the corporate income tax. Another would require the state to create a tax expenditure report.

Sanchez, who is an attorney, added that he understood that if the Legislature passed a law that wasn’t on the governor’s proclamation, “it would become subject to a lawsuit.”

Every member of the Senate has the right to file legislation and out of respect they deserve to go before the Committee on Committees, Sanchez said.

Senators plan to reconvene after 1pm on Sunday.

Governor proposes1.5% cut in education spending

5pm - Update: Both the House and Senate have adjourned until Sunday afternoon -- only two hours after the governor delivered his proclamation. Members have returned to caucus meetings.

After being postponed until 2pm, the special session started even later on Saturday at 3pm, and as promised it was high drama on the Senate floor as lawmakers begin to consider ideas to whittle down the state"s $660 million dollar budget deficit in 2010 -- and fix the $200 million gap in 2009.

Senators debated what is germane and even considered calling an extraordinary session, so they could operate outside Governor Bill Richardson's proclamation for the session, which, for one, won't allow them to impose any new taxes to help raise money to offset the revenue shortfalls -- unless as Sen. Majority Leader Michael Sanchez suggested they operate outside the state's constitution and igonore the governor's call.

Meanwhile, Richardson has backed off his call to spare education from any cuts.

Richardson spent the day laying out his plan to lawmakers and stressing his priorities of saving jobs and making sure education is not harmed by major cuts.

The governor said he while he's willing to cut education by 1.5% those cuts must include safeguards that classrooms, kids and teachers will not be affected.

It appears the governor is hoping to use federal stimulus money to prevent further cuts to education.

“I have made adjustments to my original budget proposal to reflect our new budget realities. But just like my original plan, this is a fiscally responsible package with minimum cuts to services and one that avoids layoffs and furloughs,” Richardson said. “I have made it very clear to legislators that any cuts to education must be minimal and not affect our classrooms, kids and teachers.”

“We are able to minimize education cuts and protect classroom spending as a result of our aggressive efforts in the past to keep cash reserves at 10 percent or higher,” Richardson said. The Governor’s $617 million plan relies partially on those rainy-day reserves to protect schools, while still keeping future cash reserves at a prudent 5.5 percent.

The governor also wants to divert available short-term bonding proceeds from future capital projects to reimburse general fund for existing capital expenditures, and deauthorize stalled capital outlay projects; canceling the governor’s projects as well as those of lawmakers.

If needed he said he'll delay general fund increases to retirement and Retiree Health Care Authority funds and sweep state account of unspent money.

Richardson also reiterated today that tax increases will not be considered during the special session, something he and legislative leaders had already agreed to. However, he said that he will consider a tax package in the upcoming regular session in January

“It would be irresponsible to rush into any revisions to the state’s tax code and any changes now would have little effect on the current budget year,” Richardson said. “I will consider revenue enhancements during the January session as long as they have gone through a thorough review between now and then and can be proven to have a lasting positive effect on the budget.”

Col. White selected to fill Berry's House Seat.

Col. Jim White with Wife Jacquie
Retired Air Force Colonel and former NMGOP State Treasurer Jim White is heading to Santa Fe as the interim representative for state House District 20, which was vacated on Monday by Albuquerque Mayor-elect Richard Berry.

Bernalillo County Commissioners selected White, on a 4 to 1 vote, after voting against a motion by Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins to defer the selection for 48 hours, so that the group could consider other qualified people living in the district. The motion died on a similar 4 to 1 vote.

While no other names were placed into nomination, there had been speculation earlier in the day that several other people living in the district had expressed interest in the position, including Democrat Josh Anderson, a representative with the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union.

After Stebbins motion to defer was defeated, Stebbin asked Bernalillo County Manager Thaddeus Lucero and county attorneys to look review the selection process and offer ideas on improving it.

Democrat Commissioner Alan Armijo said he believes if there are multiple people under consideration, and little time to make the selection, the fairest thing to do is to put all the names in a hat and draw a name.

Commissioners will get their chance to make another appointment soon. Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White, the former NM Secretary for Public Safety, and Republican nominee for congress in 2008's District 1 contest, was selected on Tuesday to replace Pete Dinelli as Albuqeurque Publis Safety Director in Berry's new administration on Dec. 1st.

White says he's inclined to run for the seat in 2010

White, 67, who ran for the house seat in 2006, and lost to Berry, said he’s looking forward to serving his new constituents and preparing for this weekend’s special session.

He also said that he’s inclined to run for the seat in next June’s primary election.

“We’ll see how the process goes, and what happens in the next six months, and we’ll take it from there, but right now I’m inclined to do that.”

Getting up to Speed

After his selection, White said he’ll focus on getting his credentials together before the start of Saturday’s special session in Santa Fe to balance the state’s soaring budget deficit.

White said he’ll be talking to legislators to catch up what the committees have done so far and what they’ve resolved. A lot of that has already taken place, and I don’t know about how long they have come.

Col. White said he’s prepared to make cuts across the board to balance the state budget.

“Given that all programs are of equal importance. The logical thing is to cut all of them equally. But we’re going to find out that some programs are may be more important than others. So we’ll have to find some way to cut some budget and not cut others, or cut them partially,” said White. “We’ll see how it goes. Certainly there will have to be some cuts.”

White told NMPolitics.net that he’s spent his military career and education have prepared him for his new temporary post.

“I was in the military for 27 years, and it was rewarding for me. I want to carry that type of service forward. When I left the military I thought I was a better person for it, I feel the same way about getting into the legislature,” said White. “I’ve got some skills and some education, I’ve got some background, and I’ve got some ethics and standards that I’ve lived by and I want to take those up to Santa Fe and contribute up there too.”

Earlier in the day House Republican Leader Rep. Tom Taylor (R-San Juan) told NMPolitics.Net that he’d meet with White all day on Friday.

“Basically we’ll spend the entire day with Col. White in a crash course, and utilize all the resources we have to bring them up to speed in 24 hours,” said Taylor. “Jim brings in excellent leadership skills that will continue to provide strong representation for the citizens of District 20.”

Taylor said he and his leadership are in discussions with Speaker Ben Lujan (D-Nambe) and how best to deal with situation.

“RJ’s (Berry) spot comes from appropriations. We’re working with the most efficient way to deal with that. It will still be a Republican that fills his spot,” said Taylor. “It will just be a re-arrangement. We’re discussing that right now and how best to accommodate this situation.”

House Republican Whip Keith Gardner (R-Chaves, Eddy, Lea & Roosevelt) welcomed White to the legislature in a statement released after his selection.

“The learning curve will be steep, but Jim is an Air Force retiree, a man with leadership skills, and we have no doubt that he’ll be able to step in and serve the citizens of District 20 very well,” said Gardner We look forward to working with him this week as he begins to take on this very important task.”