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Senators blast governor's health plan for kids
(Santa Fe New Mexican, The (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 18--Support for Gov. Bill Richardson's health care plan seemed to be waning in the third day of the special session, as several senators blasted both him and the plan during a Senate floor debate.
"I just wonder why we are really here," said Senate President Pro Tem Tim Jennings, D-Roswell, from the Senate floor. "I really have no earthly idea why we are in this building other than for political purposes of this governor and I'm sorry but dammit, it is true."
"We all know it, we're all afraid to say it. The insurance companies won't tell us the truth, and we all know it. They won't tell us the truth. Why? Because they've got contracts with Medicaid that the governor will cut. We know it's true."
Jennings' comments came during a debate on Richardson's main health care bill, which would spend $58 million from the expected new money in next year's budget to get more kids into the Medicaid and Premium Assistance for Kids program. Some 50,000 kids in the state do not have health insurance, something Richardson is hoping to change in the session that began Friday.
The Senate early Sunday afternoon temporarily set the bill aside, planning to bring it back up for discussion later. A substitute bill was also expected to be presented Sunday night.
Richardson's bill as of Friday evening had 11 sponsors signed on to it, of the 42 members of the Senate.
Jennings and other critics said the bill does little. "What we all know in this room is that those children are already covered if somebody will sign them up. This bill does absolutely nothing for what they want to do," Jennings said.
"Some point in time, when I turn around and look at what we are doing here, it makes little or no sense to me," he said.
Richardson, who was in Espanola with Sen. Hillary Clinton about the time the Senate was debating, said he's not worried about the comments.
"Governor Richardson is not concerned about personal attacks made by a couple members of the Senate," said spokeswoman Alarie Ray-Garcia. "Rather, his focus, as it always has been, is on getting meaningful legislation passed to give
50 thousand uninsured children access to health care and provide relief to working families who are struggling because of high gas prices."
But Richardson's rebate plan hadn't gotten a hearing as of Sunday night, and key Senate leaders have a competing plan that would give a much smaller rebate to taxpayers. The measure, Senate Bill 1, was also waiting for a hearing as of Sunday night.
Jennings said a rebate now seems the only reason for the Legislature to be meeting now -- and only if the money is there to give back to taxpayers from high oil and gas prices. Just how much revenue the state has right now has been at the center of a debate in the past week.
"Everything else in this call is not necessary. Everything else is not necessary, and that's where we are," Jennings said.
The House, on the other hand, approved two measures Richardson wanted, one to put $200 million into highway projects around the state, and another to protect the privacy of electronic medical records. Those measures now go to the Senate for consideration.
But some senators on Sunday evening seemed to have little patience for Richardson's measures, signaling they are tired and resentful of being in the Capitol.
"There's nothing bold about this legislation," Sen. John Grubesic," D-Santa Fe, said of the health care bill. "This is a rip-off, this is a scam. Don't buy into it."
"Once again, we have Governor Richardson saying, "Trust me on this one, guys,' " said Grubesic, who did not seek re-election.
"I remember hearing that on the train, I remember hearing that on the Spaceport, I remember hearing that on GRIP I, I remember hearing that on GRIP II," he said, referring to a pair of transportation project packages.
"Where did it get us? It got us a big black fiscal hole that you guys are going to have to solve," Grubesic told his colleagues. "He's going somewhere, but you guys aren't; you're going to stay here, and it's going to be your job to fix the fiscal disaster he's laid out for you guys."
Even the sponsor of Richardson's health care bill, Senate Majority Whip Mary Jane Garcia, D-Dona Ana, seemed weary of the session. "I came out here to do a job, I thought. And certainly, I do not want to be here spending, misspending taxpayer's money. If we're not going to do anything, let's get out of here, let's go home," she said.
It's unclear how long the Legislature plans to stay. Lawmakers have hinted at leaving as early as today.
Some are fretting the high cost of hotels starting later this week when tourists arrive for the Santa Fe Indian Market. Richardson also has plans to attend the Democratic National Convention in Denver, which starts Aug. 25.
One senator suggested the convention -- and Richardson's speech there -- is the main reason behind the special session.
"That's one of the reasons we're here, is to give the governor some headlines in his speech to the Democratic convention," said Sen. Kent Cravens, R-Albuquerque. "That's really a lot of the reason we've done a lot of the things we've done in the last six years, so he could have some headlines," he said.
As the night wore on, senators appeared ready to head back to their districts.
"I think there's beginning to be consensus that we are probably ready to go home," Jennings said at one point in a break during the discussion.
"We've been here enough. People have been here long enough; it's time go back home."
Contact Kate Nash at 986-3036 or knash@sfnewmexican.com. Read her blog, Green Chile Chatter, at www.santafenewmexican.com.
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