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SANTA FE — First, let me apologize. Not for anything I wrote, but for all the things I haven't written about this session.

To the nice lobbyists who came by to patiently explain why their bill to help the hard of hearing was important; to the cancer survivors whose news conference in favor of a smoking ban I missed, to the group pushing a measure to impeach President Bush: I couldn't make it. And I can only partly blame the weather.

See, it's busy around here. Crazy busy, as in the loudspeaker in the media room is broadcasting floor sessions from the minute we walk in till the second we walk out. (And not quietly, either. Would someone please tell Sen. Carlos Cisneros that his microphone is nearly twice as loud as the others?)

It's busy, as in, lawmakers, lobbyists and onlookers all want a slice of time to chat about their bills.

Busy, in a good way, but so busy we can't get to it all.

So, to all those advocates and wall leaners, let's talk in the interim. Stop by the Roundhouse when it's not bursting at the seams.

Of course, not everyone wants to talk to the media, as we saw during a debate last week on a measure to open conference committee meetings to the public. The discourse, which lasted more than three hours, included many jabs at reporters and at editorial boards that don't open their meetings to the public.

That's generally not a bad idea in my mind, except that the folks at newspapers who write editorials aren't elected officials.

Opponents stood and vigorously argued against the bill, in part because, should the committees be opened, Gov. Bill Richardson could stop by and see what lawmakers are up to.

Sen. Tim Jennings said the move would be an "invasion into our branch of government by the executive."

Well, we can see how that relationship is going.

Supporters said opening the committees, where key things like, oh, the state budget, are worked out, sends the right message.

"I don't believe we have a lot to hide, but I think it looks like it when we oppose this sort of measure so vigorously," said Sen. Dede Feldman, an Albuquerque Democrat who sponsored the bill.

The measure failed 19-20.

Others in the media aren't in good graces this session for another reason: a report on KOB-Channel 4 that featured two lawmakers in the bathroom. Yes, in the boys' room.

Jeremy Jojola's report highlighted New Mexico's lack of a "video voyeurism" law prohibiting secret filming in bathrooms or locker rooms. New Mexico is one of only two states without such a law, he reported.

The problem, according to upset lawmakers: Jojola placed a fake camera in a Roundhouse bathroom, asked House Majority Leader Ken Martinez and Senate Minority Leader Stuart Ingle to step in to the restroom to see it and filmed their reactions.

Thirteen angry politicians wrote a letter to Channel 4's vice president and general manager, Michael Burgess, expressing their disapproval. In their letter, House and Senate leaders suggest Jojola violated the Society of Professional Journalists' code of ethics.

They also point out that the TV station's lease in the Capitol requires it to comply with local laws, and that members of the public have an expectation of privacy . . . in the bathroom.

But Burgess, in a letter back to the lawmakers, disagreed with their characterization that the report involved a prank, was unethical, or staged.

"Recognizing that members of the media and the Legislature are unlikely to always agree, we trust that we can maintain a professional relationship with the New Mexico Legislature while executing our functions as reporters, without fear of unconstitutional threats or retaliation in those instances where our points of view necessarily diverge," he wrote.

Too bad the deadline already passed for bill introduction this session. I bet there'd be an interesting one to prohibit TV reporters from bringing their cameras into bathrooms, if not one to prohibit "video voyeurism."

Although, because of something called "dummy bills," essentially blank bills that can be filled in later, that could always change.