(Updated) Criticizing Legislators, Gov. Richardson Orders Freeze on Capital Outlay Projects

Update: Lt. Gov. Diane Denish released a statement in response to Governor Richardson's action to freeze capital outlay projects:

“Last week, I was proud to cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate to cut $150 million from the state’s capital outlay projects. Today I applaud the Governor’s decision to freeze all capital outlay projects, because during these challenging economic times the state simply can’t afford to continue doing business as usual. And as we approach the next legislative session, I believe we must move towards reforming the entire capital outlay process before anyone starts talking about cutting services. We simply must find more creative ways for government to be leaner and more efficient. This freeze on capital outlay projects won’t fix the entire problem, but it is certainly a step in the right direction."
*****************
Governor Bill Richardson announced in a statement released today that he is ordering a freeze on capital outlay projects with the goal of realizing as much as $150 million in savings. The freeze will apply to projects initiated by the Legislature and the Governor.

“I am taking this bold action since the Legislature chose not to cut even one dime of its pork projects,” Governor Bill Richardson said. “These pork projects should be the first to be cut before we take any action that affects people.”

The release stated the Governor was making this move because the Legislature "simply suggested that they consider looking at projects to be cut in January. However, no action was taken to actually cut the projects."

As I reported previously, Sen. Eric Griego introduced an amendment to a primary House budget bill, HB 17, on the last day of the special session. It directed the legislative council service, the legislative finance committee and the department of finance and administration to review all unexpended capital outlay projects funded by general fund appropriations and identify at least $150,000,000 of voidable capital outlay projects that would be submitted as a bill at the January session.

The original vote on Sen. Griego's amendment was a tie and Lt. Governor Diane Denish, in her role presiding over the Senate, broke it with a vote in favor of the measure. Later that day, Sen. John Ryan (R-Albuquerque) abruptly moved for a reconsideration of the amendment, which prompted a fierce and personal debate about the reasons for his action. After much ado, the amendment was again approved, this time by a margin of 21-19. Sen. Griego called it his "people before pork" amendment.

Jumping ahead of the actions required by the Griego amendment, Governor Richardson has now directed state agencies to cancel all grant agreements for capital outlay. Only those projects that already have third-party agreements will be honored as of Oct. 23. The freeze on capital outlay projects will remain in place through the next legislative session in January when the issue can be revisited, according to the Governor's statement. 

I imagine the Governor's action will cause more than a bit of consternation on the part of any number of legislators. Already, there's some talk that only the Legislature has power over capital outlays, and that the Governor has no authority to order a freeze. No doubt this is just one more skirmish in what will inevitably be a long and brutal battle of wills as the true impact of the state's falling revenues becomes more apparent and damaging.