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SANTA FE — The question of the day at the Roundhouse is a simple one: Will the Senate stay at work, or will it adjourn?

Senate President Ben Altamirano, for one, said he thinks he knows the answer. The Silver City Democrat expects his chamber will take up the work Gov. Bill Richardson wants in the special session that started Tuesday.

Altamirano said he believes there are votes "to convene and start the business of the Senate.

"Apparently," he added, "the guys are willing to come back, willing to do the bills, the ones I talked to."

But Republicans are hearing different things, suggesting the Senate might very well adjourn and go home.

"We'll be up there, and my anticipation is that we'll be adjourning and heading back to our communities," said Senate Minority Whip Leonard Lee Rawson, a Las Cruces Republican.

The governor, who stunned and angered legislators by calling a special session moments after the regular session concluded, asked for a roads bill, a domestic partnership measure, some ethics bills and tougher anti-meth and domestic violence laws.

Rawson said he believes the vote to adjourn "will be similar" to what it was Tuesday, when eight Democrats joined with 16 Republicans to leave and not take up the measures Richardson wanted.

Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez said Friday evening he's not sure what will happen.

"I don't think we'll know until we go into caucus," he said.

A caucus was planned for this morning, with the Senate scheduled to go into session at 2 p.m. But Sanchez acknowledged adjourning again isn't out of the question.

Many in the Senate earlier in the week seethed when Richardson left the state to campaign for president instead of staying in Santa Fe to oversee his agenda. Others were just plain angry at Richardson for calling them back to work so soon after the regular, 60-day session had ended.

The governor, at a news conference on Friday, defended his travel and said lawmakers knew his position on the bills he wanted.

"Aside from the political posturing from some legislators, none has told me that I am needed here to tell them what to do," he said. "The leadership on both sides of the aisle in both chambers know they have instant access to me regardless of whether I'm in my office or I am traveling."

He urged the Senate to get back to work.

"The House worked hard for days and through the night," he said. "Are you going to tell me that the sacrifices that the House members made to vote again on these important issues will be for nothing just because some (senators) are tired and angry?"

The Senate has several options. It could convene and deal with everything. It could come in and just do a few bills on which deals have been worked out. It might only pass the House-approved budget to pay for the session.

"I think we have an obligation to do the feed bill," said Altamirano, referring to the budget for the session.

"The House has been there, they have been working, they could have left also, but they chose not to do it, and they ought to certainly get paid for it."

House Speaker Ben Lujan, a Nambé Democrat, said the House most likely would come back Monday, assuming the Senate stays in. If it stays in and is able to pass several items right away, the House could return as early as Sunday.

Lujan said he'd like the Senate to do the work and, at a minimum, pass a budget for the session.