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Monday, July 21, 2008

Governor Plans To Call Special Session on Aug. 15

By Barry Massey
Associated Press
       SANTA FE — Legislators will head back to work starting Aug. 15 for a special session that Gov. Bill Richardson plans to call on health care and economic assistance proposals.
    Richardson announced the date for the legislative session on Monday.
    "New Mexicans need relief now," Richardson said in a statement. "I am working with legislators to move forward with a special session so we can address health care and put money in people's pockets before the holiday season."
    The governor has outlined a $211 million package of assistance — including a one-time tax rebate — to help New Mexicans with rising household costs. The governor also is asking lawmakers to consider expanding health care for New Mexicans. Richardson's plan for universal health care failed earlier this year during the Legislature's 30-day session.
    House Speaker Ben Lujan, D-Santa Fe, said he expected the session to last seven to 10 days.
    Presidential politics likely could force the special session to end by late August. Democrats hold their national presidential nominating convention on Aug. 25-28 in Denver.
    Lujan predicted broad support among legislators for many of the governor's economic assistance proposals, which include a $163 million income tax rebate, a one-time suspension of the gross receipts tax on certain purchases during the Christmas holiday shopping season and an expanded tax credit for low-income families.
    "I think that it's very doable. We might tweak things here or there a little bit," Lujan said in an interview.
    But the prospects for Richardson's universal health care proposal remain bleak, according to other Democratic and Republican legislative leaders.
    "I can't say that his full package — the one that he proposed at the beginning — probably has much of a chance. But if he is willing to work with us, I'm sure that we'll at least take a look at compromise and see if there is something that we can pull out of there," said Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen.
    During this year's regular legislative session, Richardson proposed expanding medical coverage to all New Mexicans by expanding programs such as Medicaid, mandating that businesses contribute to a fund if they didn't offer insurance to their workers and implementing insurance reforms to try to make coverage more available.
    Many legislators were concerned about the potential long-term costs of requiring universal health coverage. The House passed a watered-down health care bill that would have established an appointive health care authority to develop a comprehensive plan for health insurance coverage. The measure died in the Senate, however.
    Senate Republican Whip Leonard Lee Rawson, R-Las Cruces, said, "I don't think there is enough common ground on the health care package to justify a special session. We will probably do a few minor things that can help to heal the current system but nothing that is going to be comprehensive enough in nature ... to justify the session or to accomplish the governor's goal."
    One possibility on health care, Rawson said, is establishing the groundwork for the health industry to move to electronic medical records. But he said the state should provide a tax incentive to medical providers to help cover the costs of those record systems.
    Sen. John Arthur Smith, a Deming Democrat and chairman of the Senate committee that handles budget and tax issues, said support for the governor's universal health care proposal is "sort of anemic right now and in need of a transfusion." He suggested that Richardson should directly negotiate with legislative leaders — rather than relying on administration staff — to try to work out a compromise on health care.
    Richardson proposes to pay for the economic assistance package with money from a nearly $400 million revenue windfall from taxes and royalties on oil and natural gas. Revenues are greater than expected this year because of high prices for oil and gas.
    Rawson and Smith said lawmakers will want to consider changes or alternatives to some of Richardson's economic assistance proposals.
    Smith, for example, supports expanding the governor's tax holiday proposal to include a temporary lifting of the state's excise tax on automobile purchases from late November through December. He said that could help improve slumping auto sales. The governor proposed a 10-day suspension of the gross receipts tax — Nov. 28-Dec. 7 — on purchases of clothing, computers and some energy-efficient appliances.
    Rawson said lawmakers may consider spending part of the surplus money to deal with nagging financial problems, such as shoring up a program that provides health care for public employees.
    "Most voters I've talked to despise the gamesmanship of the rebate targeted just before the election knowing the rebate is going to go to certain populations to try to drive voters. They would rather see the money used wisely to stimulate our economy and meet some real needs," said Rawson.
    The governor's rebate proposal would provide a refundable tax credit that's higher for lower-income and middle-income residents. For those with incomes up to $60,000, the credit or rebate would be $150 for each taxpayer and $40 for each dependent. A married couple with two children and income of $45,000, for example, would receive a rebate of $380.

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