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Tuesday, December 07, 2010
Richardson Deserves Credit for Big Ideas
By Winthrop Quigley
Journal Staff Writer
Cisco McSorley was waiting for some people to arrive before calling a hearing of the state Senate Judiciary Committee to order a few years ago, and since the hearing room was crowded with lobbyists and other citizens, McSorley whiled away the time with a short lecture on New Mexico state government.
McSorley, a left-of-center Albuquerque Democrat, observed that New Mexicans originally designed their government to do as little as possible, with as little transparency as possible, to protect the interests of the ranching, mining and railroad industries that dominated the state in the early 20th century. The 30- and 60-day legislative sessions, held in the dead of winter, made it almost impossible for ordinary citizens to see what their representatives were doing, he said. Even the location of the state capital could make getting to the Legislature to petition for one's cause a days-long expedition that few, other than the wealthy or their lobbyists, could undertake.
I don't know enough New Mexico history to verify McSorley's story, though it seems plausible. Any casual observer can easily see how state government is structured to prevent things from happening. And that is why, as his eight years in office wind down, I find myself, grudgingly, tipping my hat ever so slightly in the direction of Gov. Bill Richardson. For better and for worse, and, I have little doubt, motivated largely by his desire to be president, Bill Richardson changed a state that is designed to change only rarely.
A lot of people had complained for years that our tax rates went too high on too low a level of income. A lot of people said our public schools were under-funded. A lot of people believed state government could do more to encourage business to create jobs. A lot of people groused that state higher education was an uncoordinated mess of fiefdoms ruling university campuses around the state.
Even though the levers of power in the Governor's Office are few, Richardson pushed through tax law changes, got the state Constitution amended by popular vote to increase funding for schools, established a Department of Higher Education, and created incentives to encourage green energy, film and aerospace industries to locate in New Mexico.
I have a lot of problems with a lot of Richardson's policies and only contempt for the shame that financial scandals that occurred on his watch have brought to our state, but I have to admire a guy who does things that other people only talk about doing.
All governors are going to hit legislative obstacles. American legislators are elected to respond to their constituents, no matter how parochial or antithetical to statewide concerns their interests might be. Much of our legislators' time and energy are spent finding money for state-funded capital projects in their districts.
The one person who is supposed to have a vision of where the state as a whole needs to go is the governor. We don't give our governors a lot of tools to implement that vision.
The biggest source of state revenue is oil and gas extraction, and much of the resource is located under public lands. Our Constitution gives the power to run state public lands to an elected land commissioner, not the governor. Much of the revenue the state collects from use of public lands goes into a trust fund that the Constitution keeps inviolate. The amount of money that can be drawn from the fund is limited by the Constitution.
Other states have a unified higher education system so policymakers can design a college and university system that meets needs statewide. New Mexico's constitution establishes independently run universities, each with its own board of regents. Curriculum and branch campus siting decisions can occur without coordination or any concern for state-level needs.
The state's chief legal officer is an elected official with his or her own constituency and ambitions. Utility and insurance regulation is the responsibility of an elected body. Dozens of independent boards have established a crazy quilt of rules and procedures under authority delegated by the Legislature, and although the governor appoints many board members, many boards don't answer to anyone in particular.
Bill Richardson tried to plow through all of those roadblocks. He had a vision, and he made it happen.
He is a bully. He has lousy table manners. There were times the behavior of his inner circle resembled that of a frat house party. Some of his associates still may face criminal charges for their roles in state investment scandals. It's possible that he will be dragged into the same legal quagmire. Unworthy people and projects were rewarded in the Richardson years in some measure merely because of their relationship with the governor. His vision of a low-tax state that spends a lot of money on its educational system and its social safety net is one reason his successor faces a massive budget problem.
But he had vision, and he led. For several years, the Legislature and the voters followed because we have been a state without a lot of leaders and very few visionaries. Bill Richardson's was the only vision in town.
UpFront is a daily front-page opinion column. Winthrop Quigley can be reached at 823-3896 or wquigley@abqjournal.com.
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