Shea Andersen: At the Roundhouse

We're outta here

Day 60, Gov. Bill Richardson got most of what he wanted, and has agreed to no special session. A collective hallelujah.

Thus comes to an end this little experiment. Thanks to all the readers and critics (I won't name names, just initials A.P. which stands for Rep. AL PARK) and others who helped make this blog so enjoyable.

Always plenty more news at the mighty mighty Tribune.

We'll also be posting a wrapup of the session, with, in Tribune style, today's news today, on the Web as soon as we can.

Hope everyone picks up a copy Monday.

pre-K passes

her voice breaking with emotion, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish announced that H.B. 337, the pre-k bill, passed the Senate 22 to 18.

The measure now goes to Gov. Bill Richardson for his signature.

The vote was almost party-line; Sen. Tim Jennings, a Roswell Democrat, voted with Republicans against the bill.

How to pull an all-nighter

Since we're looking down the barrel at a classic Senate all-nighter, here's a few considerations for surviving the long dark haul:

-Feeding the beasts: Lawmakers gotta eat, just like the rest of us. But when a flurry of minor bills are coming and going, as they are now, it's harder to get people to stay in the chamber long enough to make dinner orders feasible. Better to wait until a whopper like pre-k comes along; everyone's more or less stuck, and it's easier to feed them.

-Comfort the afflicted: Longtime Roundhousers recall a year when some senators brought in cots they'd gotten somewhere in town, for a long night coming. Tonight, the couches in the Senate lounge are likely to be hot real estate. That's only if you're not as good as Sen. John Arthur Smith or Sen. Vernon Asbill at sleeping in your chair. Both were exhibiting professional napping form in the last 24 hours.

-Distractions, distractions: If I see one more lobbyist or lawmaker playing video games on their Palm Pilot, I'll start to feel like I'm missing out. Besides, that's amateur stuff. Most lawmakers have laptops on the floor and, while checking e-mail or surfing the Web is a given, in past years lawmakers have gone so far as to play DVD's on their computers while debates were raging.

--Update--

Lorene Mills has helped me piece together part of the cot story. Apparently they were provided by the New Mexico National Guard. The cots lined the hallways, Mills said, and lawmakers were given rough army blankets and stiff pillows.

Hey, no complaints. If the Guard is reading....I'll take one.

Start that clock

Gov. Bill Richardson has signed everything he needs to sign before Saturday's adjournment. By law, he now has until April 8 to act on other legislation before it is "pocket vetoed" due to his inaction.

Not a lot of heft to the list so far signed, with the exception of the budget bills. Here's a complete list, from Richardson's office:

Current as of Friday, March 18, 2005 (11:20 a.m.)

Signed bills:
Jan. 24
HB 1 (Martinez) Feed Bill
Feb. 5HB 10 (B. Lujan) National Guard Life Insurance Reimbursement
Feb. 10
HB 9 (Stewart) Unemployment Compensation Changes
March 5
SB 13 (Komadina) Hot Air Balloons as Official State Aircraft
SB 314 (Griego) Billy Griego HIV & AIDS Act
SB 313 (Griego) Create Governor's HIV & AIDS Commission
March 11
HB 322 (Heaton) "Project" In Industrial Revenue Bond Act
HB 71 (Wallace) Motorists Moving Aside for Emergency Vehicles
HB 259 (Sandoval) Native American Behavioral Health Committee
HB 307 (Wallace) Military Base Planning Commission Members
SB 198 (B. Sanchez) High School Diplomas for Certain Veterans
March 15
HB 234 (B. Lujan) Nontaxable Transaction Certificate
Reissuance
HB 272 (Moore) Optional License Plate County Name Stickers
SB 671 (Ingle) Cotton Boll Weevil Act District Monitoring
SB 457 (Lopez) State Employee Transportation Fringe Benefit
SB 439 (Taylor) Vehicle Temporary Demonstration Plate
Display
SB 282 (Smith) Recreational Vehicle Special Event Licenses
HB 751 (Nunez) Cotton Boll Weevil Act District Monitoring
March 17
SB 175 (Smith) County Clerk Recording of Property Transfers
SB 185 (Nava) Gifted Education Program Advisory Committees
SB 230 (Sharer) Emergency Drills in Public & Private Schools
HB 394 (W. Ken Martinez) Health Insurance Rates & Alliance
Membership
HB 467 (Heaton) Emergency Powers Code
SB 225 (Tsosie) Clarify Safe Haven for Infants Act
SB 241 (M. Sanchez) Repeal DNA Evidence Procedures Sunset
SB 400 (Altamirano) Temporary License Night Driving
Requirements
SB 447 (McSorley) Domestic Violence Hearing Officer Project
SB 529 (Taylor) Funding Intent of Rio Grande State Park Act
SB 626 (Lopez) Technical or Vocational Institute Name Change
SB 68 (Papen) Change Corrections Commission Composition
HB 201 (Hanosh) Increase Motor Vehicle Administration Fees
HB 103 (Park) Additional Sex Offender Board Member
HB 2 (Saavedra) General Appropriation Act of 2005
SB 190 (Fidel) General Appropriation Act of 2005
March 18
HB 95 (Varela) Public Project Revolving Fund Authorizations
HB 193 (Nunez) Create Water Resources Research Institute
HB 405 (W.C. "Dub" Williams) ENMU Ruidoso Branch Community
College
SB 267 (Fidel) Real Estate Broker Licensing Requirements
HB 203 (Hanosh) Game & Fish Liability Suspense Account
HB 273 (Moore) Volunteer Operation of State Parks
HB 289 (Wirth) Part-time Employee Insurance Coverage
HB 335 (Picraux) Health Coverage for Unmarried Dependents

Vetoed Bills
March 17
SB 410 (Carraro) Teach Effects of Alcohol & Drugs in Schools

Popping the clutch on pre-K

The Senate almost, but not quite, got to the pre-K debate last night. Sen. Ben Altamirano said he was ready to do something "I haven't done in 35 years" and blast the bill out of the Senate Finance Committee.

Altamirano tried that at about 12 midnight, and upset enough Republicans that the debate fizzled. Sen. Dianna Duran, a major opponent of the plan, was out of town with a sick child. Without her, explained Senate Minority Leader Stuart Ingle, he was loathe to begin the debate.

This was as close as the Senate has come so far to actually getting testy in any real manner. Sen. Joe Carraro threatened a call of the Senate, and other tempers flared.

Eventually, it evaporated. Democrats, led by Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, agreed to wait until today. Pre-K is now going before the Senate Finance Committee. A floor vote could come this afternoon or evening.

And then, it got sorta goofy down there. With the buzz of pre-K off the agenda, the Senate slogged along. They were interrupted, briefly, by someone trying to toss an ice cream bar (it was Ag Day up here yesterday; free beef and ice cream for all my friends) up to someone in the gallery. The shot was short, and the ice cream bar ended up bouncing off the head and shoulders of Sen. Tim Jennings. "Hey!" I heard Jennings bark.

Thus was Lt. Gov. Diane Denish forced, for the first time I've seen it, to gavel down the gallery, which erupted in laughter.

More long hours tonight. Message from Sanchez this morning: "I'm very optimistic we'll get through the night"

Survival first. Ice cream later.

Budget: A little something for you, Foley

Gov. Bill Richardson today signed the $4.7 billion budget into law, with what can only be described as very mild veto action.

"He didn't do much at all," said Secretary of Finance and Administration James Jimenez.

The numbers: $350,000 worth of recurring spending vetoes.

But over in the "junior budget bill," it was a different story.

Among $1.4 million in vetoes of nonrecurring projects, Richardson focused his veto pen most squarely on a project in Chaves County, the home of one Rep. Dan Foley.

Richardson vetoed $330,00 that Foley and his colleagues hoped would be used by the Public Education Department for a pilot project to allow free admission to school athletic events.

It was the largest single veto in that bill.

When he heard the news, Foley leapt to his feet on the floor of the House with these choice remarks:

"It's an example of how partisan the fourth floor can be," Foley said. "He'd rather put partisan politics ahead of the kids of New Mexico. He continued to veto the stuff coming out of Chaves County."

As he has before, Foley linked Richardson's actions to his potential future candidacy for the White House in 2008.

"His desire is to fund everything that will get him to New Hampshire on time, and not worry about the state of New Mexico along the way," Foley said.

Hide the whiskey

Why, it's St. Paddy's Day up here. How odd to celebrate an Irish holiday in New Mexico, where the wearin' o the green typically means you spilled green chile on your tie.

So I say, beware the Immediate Irishman.

On St. Patrick's Day the I.I., that person with merely the barest shred of Irish heritage, will squeeze that bit of Blarney gravel for all it's bleedin' worth.

The I.I. will then feel compelled to: (1) dress in garish shades of green that clash oh, so mightily, (2)perhaps pop on a bowler or a floppy newsboy hat and cock one's head just so (3) bellow in a shaggy attempt at Scottish-tinged accent and (4) describe in painful detail in this instant accent, your misfortunes at the hands of a real or imagined whiskey bottle.

On the Senate floor this morning, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish called the session to order and called upon Majority Leader Michael O'Sanchez to begin. She was rewarded for her pluck by songs, including "Over There" and "God Bless America," led by an opera singer on loan. Thank the Leprechauns for his presence; he drowned out the I.I.'s on the floor.

Let the celebrations carry on. Tonight, I'm told, the House Judiciary Committee will hold its St. Patrick's Day celebration at the Hotel Plaza Real, the same hotel I call home during the session. So much for my peace and quiet. Pass me the Blarney Stone and a slingshot.

Speaking of green, it's budget veto or sign day! In mere moments, we'll have word of Gov. Bill Richardson's decisions. Watch this space.

Take my line, please

More Richardson-at-Gridiron humor, via the venerable Washington correspondent Helen Thomas.

Also, if you're into that sort of Richardson-media-saturation thing, he made the rounds at the Al Franken show this week, where, I'm told, he recycled his Bush-NCAA joke. Not that I've ever seen him do that before.

Them late nights

We're cranking into the wee hours these days. Last night the House took every second of its allotted three hours to debate tax cuts/tax hikes before ultimately passing the measure on a tight 34-32 vote.

That vote came after a flurry of Democrat smackdowns of various Republican amendment attempts, with votes like 38-27.

Then, when the final vote came, some oil-patch Democrats crossed over to vote with Republicans against a range of oil and gas industry tax hikes that are designed to offset the income tax cuts.

Those D's:
Rep. Don Whitaker, Eunice
Rep. Joe Stell, Carlsbad
Rep. John Heaton, Carlsbad
Rep. Ray Begaye, Shiprock

Already the House seemed weary; Rep. Rick Miera, acting as speaker so House Speaker Ben Lujan could present the bill, looked like he was napping in his chair when he got back to the floor.

Frustration was everywhere, but only Rep. Eric Youngberg seemed ready to take drastic measures. Seems Youngberg is undergoing physical therapy for a knee injury; part of this requires mild electric pulses delivered to his knee via four electrodes.

But last night Youngberg seemed about to crack; as Rep. Dan Foley began to strenuously debate, Youngberg began sticking the things to his forehead and was about to press the button when he was rescued by Rep. Justine Fox-Young.

So imagine my mild panic when, at 9 p.m. or so last night, Rep. Al Park prepared me for yet another bombshell: they might also be debating statewide pre-k over there before the night was through.

As is done so often on the House floor, may I thank Speaker Lujan for opting to hold that little gem over until today.

Snow Day

Why, oh why, can't this snow wait until the weekend?

Nonetheless, the ship of state sails on. Last night, leaving the Roundhouse, spotted a unique coping mechanism: Secretary of Health Michelle Lujan Grisham heading outside with a garbage bag wrapped around each delicate foot.

"You're just jealous that you didn't think it it," she said, as she marched, noisily, for the door.

The Texas . . . 18?

Seen on the message board of the Senate just before their evening floor session:

"The Senate is in recess until 8 p.m. this evening. Per Sen. Rawson, the Republicans have gone to Texas."

All-nighter!

I-25 North from Santa Fe? Closed. Snow and ice.

I-25 South to Albuquerque? Same.

Highway 285 to Espanola? Ditto.

The House, in its businesslike wisdom, has shut down for the day.

The Senate, however, sensing a captive audience in the Roundhouse, is set to return to the floor at 8 p.m.

Word all over the Roundhouse is about road conditions. As of this hour I'm aware of two of Richardson's staff and even Lt. Gov. Diane Denish out toughing it out on I-25.

Carraro goes national

I've now heard enough from readers and friends about Sen. Joe Carraro's appearance on National Public Radio that I figure I'd better put up a link to the show.

Carraro is soldiering on in his effort to change the state's motto from "It grows as it goes" to "Embrace the past, cherish the future."

But no national media reference posting would be complete without some links to coverage of Gov. Bill Richardson's appearance at the annual Gridiron Dinner. You can pick up the tail end of my column here (how vain!) or check out more on-the-spot coverage by Washington Post columnist Neely Tucker.

Here's the segment that has the usual conspirators chattering:

"I want to be very clear about this," he said. "So clear, in fact, that I will give you my answer, slowly and definitively, in both English and Spanish: No, I will not run for president. Si! Seguro que voy a ser candidato para la presidencia!" (Yes! Certainly I will be a candidate for the presidency!)"

Down to the wire

Signs of the coming end of the Legislature:

-Snow: All that springtime sunshine has disappeared behind a freak spring snowstorm that is supposed to hang around all week. The weather nicely reflects the storms brewing in the Capitol.

-Parliamentary wrangling: Over in the House this morning Rep. Larry Larranaga tried three different ways to blast a parental notification bill out of Rep. Gail Beam's House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee, to no avail. They even put a call of the House on for a while. That's the sort of thing you don't see until it's getting down to the wire.

-The signs: "No LOBBYISTS." They're now posted at the ends of the chamber hallways in both the House and Senate.

-Irregular press conferences: Rep. Joseph Cervantes, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, set up a press conference in his cramped third-floor office to talk about why the state's pre-K bill isn't moving faster. Outside, Education Secretary Veronica Garcia was tapping her feet, waiting for word from reporters just what was said. In short, "We're working on it," was the message. Possible committee clearance tonight. I don't advise holding your breath.

-Conspiracy theories: Sunday's non-conspiracy conspiracy (second item)by the House Republicans to vacate a committee hearing on election reform still hasn't quite risen to the level of true cloak-and-daggerism. In a nutshell, Republicans love this issue, and leaving a committee without a press conference just doesn't look like something from their playbook. We'll see today if Democrats back off on their assertion that games were being played.

Watch out for that gulp!

I'm outta here for at least 24 hours, so I leave you with this quote from Sen. Sue Wilson Beffort:

"The whole country's out of whack when you can go into a 7-11 and get a 32-inch gulp."

What kind of cup-holder does that require?

Sing that song, Tom

Tom Garrity, the ever-so-efficient Republican/Democrat flack for the Senate Democrats, has a busy job these days.

Asked this morning how he was, Garrity responded, "If I was any better, I'd have to write a song!"

Chipper, chipper! Could be because he's feeling like old times: Garrity's specialty, for a while, was "crisis communications."

Nothing like errant freshman lawmakers to get you in the groove.

In a singalong mood:
You haven't lived, and maybe you'll be O.K. with that, until you've seen Sen. Joe Carraro lead a barful of Instant Italians in a rousing rendition of "YMCA" by the Village People.

Lastly, some actual debates:

Today the Senate Judiciary Committee takes up Rep. Gail Beam's death penalty repeal bill. It's safe to say that all eyes are on two conservative Democrats, Sen. Lidio Rainaldi and Sen. Richard Martinez, who sit on that committee.

That's amore, but it's also some bad singing

"Now that's a crime."

That from Sen. John Grubesic as he walked out of the Senate floor after hearing Sen. Joe Carraro sing.

Grubesic had better get used to it. It's Italian American Day up here at the Roundhouse, and Carraro tends to make the most of it.

You can expect to hear lots of "I feel Italian, suddenly" singing efforts, like last night's rendition of "That's Amore" led by Senate Pres. Ben Altamirano from the Senate rostrum.

Here's a short bit of Carraro's statement on today:
"I look forward to meeting and greeting all of the Senators and members of the House of Representatives as well as staff and press for sing-alongs and camaraderie while honoring descendants of such notables as Amerigo Vespucci and Christopher Columbus, new world explorers."

Tonight, that great Italian tradition of...karaoke?
Carraro and his mob have rented out a bar tonight, to pursue further musical mangling. Those who cherish good singing might be wise to steer clear.

DOMA passes Senate

After more than two hours of sometimes very emotional debate, the Senate has voted 25-12 to restrict marriage to only a man and a woman.

The measure, sponsored by Sen. William Sharer, a Farmington Republican, now heads to the House.

Only Democrats voted against the measure.

But eight Democrats voted for the measure:

Sen. Carlos Cisneros, of Questa
Sen. Joseph Fidel, of Grants
Sen. Timothy Jennings, of Roswell
Sen. Richard Martinez, of Espanola
Sen. Mary Kay Papen, of Las Cruces
Sen. Lidio Rainaldi, of Gallup
Sen. James Taylor, of Albuquerque
Sen. Bernadette Sanchez, of Albuquerque

Chagrined reporters, and the debate begins!

The dapper Matt Grubs from KOAT Channel 7 took umbrage at the previous post about tromping reporters. Grubs, it should be noted, never tromps. Mea culpa.

We've just begun the Senate debate over gay marriage, almost an hour after the Senate dithered over redneck jokes and basketball games. Why the dither? As happens some mornings, the Senate needed a quorum to begin -- 22 of 42 Senators need to be in the chamber -- and when Lt. Gov. Diane Denish gaveled them into order she faced a group of just nine Senators.

Never mind; Sen. Tim Jennings and Sen. Clint Harden were happy to swap redneck jokes...let's see if I remember this one right, from Harden:

What do a hurricane, a tornado, and a redneck divorce all have in common?

Somebody's going to lose a trailer.

Grooving the Grubesic beat

Today the Senate might debate gay marriage. The House passed an important measure about educational retirement.

But nothing, I mean nothing, has so captivated the appetite of the Capitol press like the Grubesic crash.

Gov. Bill Richardson today told reporters he didn't think Sen. John Grubesic, he who rolled his car and then got into a dispute with State Police about the matter, should get preferential treatment.

"It's unfortunate what happened," Richardson said. "I want to be sure that just because somebody's a public official, a senator, a judge or a governor, that nobody gets preferential treatment."

Earlier today, the mighty Capitol rumor mill had said Grubesic had been escorted by State Police up to Richardson's office Friday after the incident. But Richardson said he'd not met with Grubesic.

This little brouhaha has a troop of reporters hustling all over the Capitol in search of the latest he-said she-said.

Out on the windy sidewalk outside the building, State Police Chief Carlos Maldonado said officers were unable to establish probable cause, or even whether or not Grubesic was driving.
"If you can't establish who the driver is, there's not going to be an arrest," Maldonado said. "He did not admit to driving the vehicle."

Tromp tromp, goes the pack, downstairs to see Grubesic himself, who told reporters, as he had before, that it was all fairly innocent.

But he admitted deceiving State Police officers the first time around.

"I thought it was just a little careless driving accident, nothing more, nothing less," Grubesic said. "And I think I was frightened at that...point in time, that, oh gee, this is a bigger deal than I thought it was, although it was just careless driving and I should have just admitted it at that point. But I was tired and cold and confused, and I didn't."
He later admitted the car was his, and has taken responsibility for the accident.

Reckless, or feckless?

Sen. John Grubesic, a first-timer from Santa Fe, made himself this year's first annual scandal-ish (not quite scandalized) politician.

Grubesic apparently rolled his car on his way home Thursday night, but told police and reporters it was an innocent accident and alcohol was not involved.

Today Grubesic stood up on the floor of the Senate during the "announcements and miscellaneous" segment to offer this point of information:
"I will be conducting a driver skills workshop in the parking lot across the street today."

Sen. John Arthur Smith rose to announce that he, for one, would not be joining the class.

Who are you people anyway? and, Guv on Payday

The Albuquerque Tribune's ever-ready Webmaster Jeff Commings has a few stats about Web traffic I'll pass along:

In the month of February, this short-lived blog had 3,052 individual "hits" from various Web crawlers.

Who are you junkies anyhow? People just dying to know what the coffee scene is like here? Bad basketball fans?

I offer the numbers with next to no context. I don't know how that compares to various giants and mysterious legends of the blogging world. But thanks, all, for the visits.

The Tribune's Web site is chugging along too: 87,859 unique visitors in February, compared to 98,180 in January.

Okay, some real news:

Gov. Bill Richardson told reporters today that the payday lending bill overwhelmingly approved by the House was no good.

The House voted to approve H.B. 65, sponsored by Rep. Patty Lundstrom, last week. Though it is the first regulation of payday lending in New Mexico, the measure does not have caps on interest rates the lenders charge to borrowers.

"I believe we need stronger consumer protection," Richardson said. "I'd like to see a workable cap that still seems to elude everybody."

Guv to Bush: nice job

Gov. Bill Richardson delighted Republicans around the Capitol today when, in an appearance on NBC's "Today" show, he said President Bush was doing a good job in international relations.

Richardson does have a bit of experience in this realm, as a former ambassador and trouble-shooter.

The Associated Press picked up Richardson's comments here.

Michael Sanchez: opera lover

After a long Sunday on the floor of the Senate, it turns out that one way Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez likes to unwind is with a little opera.

Sunday night I was waiting in his office when he came in off the floor, popped an Andrea Bocelli CD into his player, and filled the office with opera.

Seems fitting to me; as we grind through a multi-hour debate today on Indian gaming issues in the Senate, there is a fair bit of melodrama down there on the floor.

Last night's music attracted Sen. Clint Harden, who came to admire Sanchez's stereo and recommend that he put a little country music on it.

In fact, Sanchez was regretting that he was up here and not down in Albuquerque attending the Alison Krauss concert. A multi-faceted majority leader.

Casual Sunday

It's Sunday at the Roundhouse, with lawmakers from both chambers holding floor sessions today.

Sundays are the closest the Capitol gets to "casual Fridays," with lawmakers and lobbyists and other participants dressing a little more loosely.

In the House, it's leather sportcoats that make the lawmaker today: Republican Rep. Don Tripp of Socorro and Democratic Reps. John Heaton of Carlsbad and Gail Beam of Albuquerque all wearing some form of the groovy leather today.

Bluejeans and boots are also common sightings in the House.

But over in the Senate, they're dressed for deliberatin', with nary a tie out of place. There are, per New Mexico style, a few bolo ties out there.