I don’t know about you, but I found it very informative this week listening to lawmakers talk about the recently completed special session.  Our thanks go out to Rep. Al Park, Rep. Larry Larranaga, Senator Sue Wilson Beffort, and Senator Dede Feldman.  What was probably most interesting to me, though, was to hear them talk about some of the possibilities for what happens next in the budget process.  Predictions ranged from a line item veto of the 7.6% cut to some state agencies, followed by an executive order limiting those cuts to 4%… to a veto that leads to an extraordinary session as lawmakers work to override that veto. There’s really only one person out there right now that knows how this will actually play out, and that’s Governor Richardson.  And, guess what?  We get to talk to him this coming Tuesday!

That’s right, after months of trying to get an interview with the Governor (he was last on New Mexico in Focus leading up to the 2006 election), the state’s top leader will sit down with us in the Roundhouse to talk about the budget.  We want to find out if he will tip his hat at all on the potential of any line item vetoes.  We also hope to find out the truth about the gloom and doom predictions that have come out of his office since almost the minute the special session ended.  Do you have a question you want us to ask him as well?  Just send us an email at infocus@knme.org, or leave us your question in the comments section here on this blog.  Next week, we’ll also talk with Lt. Governor Diane Denish, who cast an important tie-breaking vote on a capitol outlay amendment.  Let us know what you’d like us to ask her about as well. And, be sure to vote in our poll this week at newmexicoinfocus.org.  The question is whether or not the Governor should use his line item veto at all in the budget fixes just approved by lawmakers.  And, don’t forget, you can always watch this week’s episode again while you’re there on the site.  It was a fascinating conversation with the lawmakers, and well worth a 2nd and 3rd viewing.  We also had a great follow-up segment this week on the giant LAND/ART project going on this fall here in New Mexico.  Artists talked more about the project, as well as the video profile pieces we’ve done on the project here at KNME as part of our Artisode series.

Kevin McDonald

The Public Affairs Team

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 31st, 2009 at 11:11 am and is filed under nmif. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.