Roundhouse Report #2

We have been very busy at the Roundhouse and the pace will only become more accelerated and intense as time goes along.  When the session started, there were estimates that there would be 2000 bills introduced.  While the final number remains unknown, as of Thursday, February 12th, there have been 578 bills introduced in the Senate and 757 in the House.  The final day to bring forward new bills is February 19th and no new capital outlay requests may come in after 5PM on February 16th.

Many bills are assigned to the Judiciary and Public Affairs Committees for initial review and votes.  Currently, I spend a great deal of my time reading and considering bills that will be brought before these committees and much more of my time is spent in actual committee hearings.  Both Commitees meet three times per week.

In the Albuquerque Journal on February 13th, Governor Bill Richardson announced that he feels that a special session will need to be convened in April or May in order to work out the details of the 2010 budget.  Within the context of overall concerns about the nation's and state's overall economies, the Governor is wanting to wait on final budget considerations until the economists are able to more clearly review how much money is coming to New Mexico as a part of the Federal stimulus package.