Kate Nash
Tribune Reporter

SANTA FE - Exhausted lawmakers rapped their 30-day session to a close at noon today as lobbyists, advocates and even some lawmakers struggled to figure out which bills beat the adjournment deadline.

One that nearly passed with less than a minute to go was a minimum-wage-hike compromise that slid through the House but stumbled in the Senate.

Scruffy, sleep-deprived political junkies filled the House and Senate galleries to get a look at the last hours of a session required by law to end at noon today.

Those last hours weren't pretty. Lawmakers on the floor were short-tempered with one other as they raced the clock. Others seemed to have checked out, leaning back in their chairs, eyes closed.

Added to that atmosphere was the suspense of whether an angry Gov. Bill Richardson would call a special session, as he has threatened.

Richardson, a first-term Democrat, has said the Legislature came up short on many of his "Year of the Child" initiatives. With bills and amendments flying back and forth between chambers, the status of many of those was unclear when the session adjourned.

The Governor's Office said he planned a 1 p.m. news conference to react to the work of lawmakers, whose main purpose in Santa Fe was to write a state budget. They did that: A $5 billion spending plan is awaiting Richardson's signature, veto or line-item veto.

In the waning hours, lawmakers were able to accomplish some of the tasks Richardson put forth four weeks ago.

The Senate at 11:15 a.m. passed a capital outlay measure for statewide construction projects. It's headed to Richardson's desk.

A measure that would help Albuquerque Public Schools build two new high schools on the West Side was approved by the House. But it was unclear whether all of the $115 million the administration sought for APS was approved.

The House early Wednesday approved SB 446, a measure by Senate President Ben Altamirano, a Silver City Democrat, to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.75 next year and $7.50 in 2008.

But because the House amended it, House and Senate negotiators had to meet in private this morning to work out a compromise that ultimately failed to pass both chambers.

In another last-minute negotiation that failed, a sweeping tax measure, HB 82, passed the House but not the Senate. Among other things, it contains a working families tax credit the governor wants.

Failure of both measures could spur a special session.

After staying in session until 3:30 a.m. today, and with minds that were functioning on fumes, patience grew thin as adjournment loomed.

"Senators, pay attention," Lt. Gov. Diane Denish admonished in a hoarse voice over a clearly groggy Senate.

"We're on amendment 162552.1," she said. The change was to a payday loan bill, which they discussed at one point, then skipped over.

Despite all the work that was left undone when the gavel came down, House Speaker Ben Lujan, a Namb‚ Democrat, praised members for their hard work.

"As we depart, I just want to say it's been great working with you," he said to the House membership, each of whom faces re-election this year.

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