More Local

• ABQTrib.com to remain available
• Former Marine to serve two years in jail for killing Albuquerque robber
• Wilson-Pearce battle for U.S. Senate exemplifies party's disparity

MOST RECENT TRIB STORIES

• ABQTrib.com to remain available
  08:48 a.m., February 25, 2008
• Congressman is indicted
  08:37 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Series of attacks target Green Zone
  08:36 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Iran is defying U.N., agency says
  08:35 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Waterboarding approval probed
  08:34 a.m., February 23, 2008

TRIB IN THE BLOGOSPHERE*

• Ty Murray Invitational thrills fans in Albuquerque
• Is Rome Burning?
• Ominous Skies
• The Road to Invalidation
• Albuquerque company participates in “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”

*Note: The Tribune does not create and is not responsible for the blogosphere's headlines and stories. These links to blogs talking about ABQTrib.com are automatically generated. Use them at your own risk.

STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Comments
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

SHARE THIS STORY [?]

SANTA FE — It's crunch time in the Legislature, with just a week to go before adjournment. But staying up until all hours to pass bills could be a thing of the past in the Senate, one lawmaker says.

"We're trying to get it done so that people don't have to spend all night and all morning here on Friday and early Saturday morning," Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez said this morning.

"We're trying to get us out of here so people don't have to stay up to 3 and 4 a.m. It's pretty hard on people," said Sanchez, a Democrat from Belen.

Overall, Sanchez said he's optimistic about the work that has been done and what is left for the rest of the week. The session ends Saturday at noon.

On the Senate calendar today, 90 bills are lined up. In the House, there are 25. Those calendars are expected to grow as the day goes on and more bills come out of committee and hit the floor.

Some of the big work is out of the way. The $5.7-billion budget for next fiscal year is on Gov. Bill Richardson's desk after passing both houses.

But as the clock ticks down, there are still plenty of hot-button issues out there.

A statewide minimum wage increase, use of marijuana for medical reasons, tax cuts, revised gambling compacts, benefits for domestic partners, regulation of payday loans, revamping of the state's housing authorities: There's a lot on the table.

"Most of the big stuff is done," House Majority Leader Ken Martinez said this weekend. "Now there's just a race to do all the individual policy bills that are out there. Because the money is pretty much done, now it's just policy issues."

As lawmakers are picking up steam, so is Gov. Bill Richardson.

"I'm working on all this stuff," he said after he emerged from a Saturday night meeting with Democrats in the Senate lounge.

"Potentially, this could be one of the most productive sessions we've ever had," Richardson said, although he conceded that "a lot has to happen."

Here's a quick look at what is still waiting to be done as the session speeds up:

Minimum wage

An amended version of a statewide minimum wage increase was approved by the House over the weekend. It now heads back to the Senate floor for consideration.

The measure as it is now calls for the state to raise the wage from the present $5.15 an hour to $6.50 in January 2008 and to $7.50 in January of 2009. It is not tied to inflation, so it wouldn't increase annually, as some advocates wanted.

The measure doesn't override cities that already have higher wages like Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Other cities, however, would be prohibited from increasing their wages until 2010. That's a key difference from the bill as the Senate passed it earlier this session, which would make cities wait until 2013 to consider their own wage.

The change isn't likely to play well in the Senate, said senators who gave it a low probability of passing with the House's most recent amendments.

"I think the Senate is very satisfied with what it passed," said Senate Minority Leader Stuart Ingle.

"It's basically fair to everybody here, it had the wage the governor was wanting," he said, noting he likes that the bill now isn't indexed to inflation.

"I don't think anything will pass the Senate but that," said Ingle, a Portales Republican.

Medical marijuana

Passed by the Senate, a bill allowing chronically ill patients to use marijuana for medical reasons was killed by a narrow House vote last week.

Over the weekend - at Richardson's urging - the Senate took a related medical marijuana bill, made it essentially the same as the killed bill and sent it to the House again for consideration.

The measure will go to the House Judiciary Committee for consideration before coming back to the House floor.

GRIP II

The $250 million roads package is pending in the Senate Finance Committee.

But Sen. John Arthur Smith, a Deming Democrat who is co-chairman of the committee, said he thinks a scaled-down version has a better chance of passing than the full $250 million.

"There are some of us who believe if we commit to a five-year program there will be no capital (outlay money) in the next year," he said.

"If you commit severance tax on water, severance tax on the Spaceport, severance tax on (the) five-year (plan), pretty soon you're out of severance tax," he said.

The package, which includes four projects in Bernalillo County, is the second part of Governor Richardson's Investment Partnership. GRIP I is facing about a $300 million shortfall, senators say.

Tax cuts

The House has passed a series of tax cut bills. Others are pending in the Senate.

It's still unclear whether they will all be rolled into one measure.

House Minority Leader Tom Taylor gave a tax-cuts measure a "very good probability" of passing this week.

However, in what form they emerge - how much and for whom - remains to be seen.

"When you do an omnibus thing you have an easy ability of poisoning the package. It depends on final form," said Taylor, a Farmington Republican.

Martinez said the cuts are still under discussion.

"I think there's still some negotiation there, trying to size the package and then once you size it trying to put your priorities in that."

Richardson started the session hoping for a $123 million package.

Ingle said he's confident a tax-cut bill will happen this session.

"They'll be some disagreement on that, on the best way of going and how to get there," he said.

"But there'll be a tax measure approved this year."

Capital outlay

The measure funding building projects in legislators' districts started this year in the Senate and is pending in the House, where members are adding their projects.

More than $700 million is up for grabs this year. There's little doubt lawmakers will pass the bill.

"It's not a question of if, it's just when," said Martinez.

Gambling compacts

The Senate listened to four hours of testimony Sunday on revising the tribal-state agreements governing gambling.

The new compacts were negotiated by tribes and representatives of the Governor's Office. They have the backing of 10 of the 13 tribes that operate casinos.

Among the key changes, they would:

Remain in effect until 2037. Current compacts, which were approved in 2001, will expire in 2015.

Increase the payments from tribes to the state. The state is projected to get an additional $650 million by 2037. That estimate is based on all 13 tribes agreeing to the new compact.

Limit how many casinos each tribe can operate and cap the number of off-reservation racetracks.

If the Legislature endorses the compacts, they must be signed by Richardson and tribes and then approved by the secretary of the U.S. Interior Department.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.