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Sen. John Arthur Smith
Legislative leaders were at the Roundhouse Thursday for a third day of “intense, behind-closed-doors talks and one key Senator said they were almost exactly in the same place they were when the session ended a week ago. “We haven’t really moved very far,” Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, said Thursday afternoon.
At the close of the session last week House leaders said a budget agreement was very close. But after days of talks to try and come to agreement before next week’s special session, Smith said the same divisions were still there. He said some of the leaders feel if they can’t find a solution, the special session shouldn’t happen next week.
“If we don’t have an agreement we shouldn’t be here,” Smith told The Independent.
Smith said the status of the economy is making it tough for budget planners to have reliable numbers. And even among leaders there is disagreement about how much longer the current economic downturn will last.
There are several groups within the Legislature who think budget cuts are the answer, others feel tax increases will be necessary, while still others fall in the middle.
Smith said those who are in on the talks include himself, Speaker of the House Ben Lujan, Senate President Pro Tem Tim Jennings, and leaders on the House Appropriations and Senate Finance committees. Gov. Richardson has not been there, Smith said “but he’s had some division people there to verify numbers.”
Smith said he was hoping to have a solution by Friday so that leaders could take it to their respective caucuses. He said he hoped there would then be enough agreement to pass a budget quickly on Monday during the special session.
In the video below, Sen. Smith discusses the talks:
