Some question governor's use of executive order

state lawmakers put in a lot of late-night hours last month working on budget cuts. stuart dyson ...  More »

state lawmakers put in a lot of late-night hours last month working on budget cuts. stuart dyson continues our team coverage from the capitol... ...where tonight some lawmakers are wondering why they even bothered. stu. the governor vetoes the legislature's big spending cutand then imposes his own kinder gentler cuts by executive order - leaving many wondering why he called a 50 thousand dollar a day special session in the first place. smaller cuts to state agencies - prisons won't be closing - state parks will remain open - kids from poor families still getting full welfare medical care - the governor imposing two percent pay cuts on 19 thousand state employees in the form of those five-day no-pay furloughs to pick up some of the slack. " he could have taken care of what he need to take care of by executive order without having a special session - and that's what should've happened - not call us up here - not spend all this money - and done what he wanted to do to begin with." " i was a little disappointed to hear there's gonna be furloughs because that comes out tobout a 2% pay cut - now is not the time that you should be cutting the paychecks people are taking home to feed their families." " i knew all along we weren't going to start letting prisoners out and closing jails - and that's a good thing because new mexico needs to be protected." richardson's cuts total out at less money than the ones the legislature approved - there may be more cutting when lawmakers meet in their regular session in january. that's when so- called revenue enhancements will be on the table - and revenue enhancement is a politically correct term for what most of us call tax increases - more debate on that in the days and weeks ahead  « Less