No decision yet for state gov supercomplex site

I didn't expect the meeting Wednesday of the Capitol Buildings Planning Commission to take almost all afternoon. But it did. Long story short: the panel hasn't made a decision yet on where to locate the new state government supercomplex.

A new idea for a site popped up when Sonny Otero offered to donate 25 acres for the project, and lawmakers continued to express concerns about the price the state would pay at the Las Soleras site, which General Services Secretary Art Jaramillo says he favors after the Architectural Research Consultants in 2007 recommended the site.

While the developers of Las Soleras and others were hoping the commission would make a decision this week on the site, I got the impression it could be a while still before the state decides on a site, as both Democrats and Republicans on the panel said they wanted to take a closer look at the project. The land that would be involved in a swap if the Las Soleras site is chosen, for example, still has to be appraised.

Details in my story here.

Rebecca Vigil-Giron indicted

That's the latest from the Associated Press.

Vigil-Giron, who didn't comment on the indictments, has said she can account for "every last nickel" of spending while she was secretary of state.

"Today's indictments are the result of more than two years of investigation by my Government Accountability Division," Attorney General Gary King said in a statement. "We will now concentrate on proving these allegations in a court of law."

Update, 9:06 a.m.
Read the indictments here.

More details here.

Unemployment insurance benefits delayed again, to be fixed by 1:00

The state's Department of Workforce Solutions says it will make payments by 1:00 today to unemployed New Mexicans who didn't get paid after a "batch payment failure" was discovered Sunday night.

A two-paragraph news release from the Department doesn't shed light on what the problem was or how many people were affected. This is the second time in recent days the department has made late payments.

"We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused,” Deputy Secretary Ken Ortiz said in a statement. "We realize our customers rely on receiving their payments in a timely manner."

And, it's not the first time the system recently has faced other problems.

LFC: state faces $400 million shortfall

That's the gist of the latest revenue projections released today by the Legislative Finance Committee.

Here's the latest from AP's Barry Massey, who is covering the LFC meeting in Angel Fire.

"According to the latest financial forecast, revenues will drop to about $5 billion in the current budget year, which started in July. That’s $433 million less than what had been anticipated when lawmakers enacted the budget," he wrote.

The news isn't totally unexpected, but of course isn't good. Lawmakers are set to convene in October at some point for a one day special session to now figure out how to whack that much from state spending.

Already, there are a few ideas out there. . . .

Richardson, legislative leaders agree to one day special session

Gov. Bill Richardson and legislative leaders have agreed to a one-day special session on the budget in October.
Before then, a legislative-executive group will "negotiate a bipartisan agreement on the budget before a special session is convened."

"We are fortunate that New Mexico – with healthy cash reserves – is in much better shape than most states, which have resorted to laying off state employees and drastically cutting services," Richardson said in a statement. "But we are definitely facing tough challenges, and we must continue to make sacrifices to balance the budget."

Some lawmakers have predicted the state this year is facing a shortfall of between $300 and $400 million. They already cut $500 million earlier this year. Others are fretting about the state of New Mexico's reserves.

Given how tricky it is to cut anything substantial from the budget, anyone taking bets on how long the one-day session will really last?

2010 candidates should look again at guide to the election

If you are running for something next year and you've already looked at, downloaded or printed out the 2010 election guide on the Secretary of State's web site, you might want to look again.


The office made a few changes to the guide after some confusing information was pointed out by the New Mexico County Clerk Affiliate president.

Bill gets American journalists pardoned

Bill, as in Clinton, was able to get two female journalists sentenced to 12 years of hard labor in North Korea pardoned today. That's a job our Bill, as in Richardson, probably wanted to do.

Still, Richardson was on CNN just now, calling the trip "huge" and saying it improves relations between the two countries.

“Since the relationship has been frozen and hostlie, any kind of future movement Bill Clinton can bring back and say ‘We’re ready to talk’ is a big step.” the governor said.

The governor said he had been in touch with the families of the women, who he described as "well fed." No word on when they will be actually returned to the United States.

Richardson, one of the few Western diplomats who has been to North Korea, has been instrumental in rescuing hostages from other countries in the past. It wasn't clear how directly he had been working with the White House on the journalists' situation, but he has said in the past he was monitoring it.

Once a global traveller and always curious about other countries, Richardson hasn't been on networks like CNN much in recent months for his work on international relations. Could this be the beginning of a comeback or just luck that he had expertise in the area?