Though resolving the state's festering budget crisis will be the major area of concern for the 2010 New Mexico Legislature, lawmakers will be dealing with a wide range of topics from dog racing to spaceflights to candy cigarettes.

Although the Legislature doesn't convene in Santa Fe for another month, lawmakers began introducing bills last week. So far, House members have introduced 11 bills, while senators have filed 26 bills and four nonbinding resolutions or memorials.

Last year was the first year that lawmakers could file bills before the opening of the session, said Paula Tackett, director of Legislative Council Services, on Friday.

The concept behind one pre-filed bill already has drawn some controversy. That's the Hispanic Education Act, House Bill 19, introduced by Rep. Mary Helen Garcia, D-Las Cruces. Gov. Bill Richardson and Public Education Secretary Veronica Garcia have argued that such a bill is necessary to close an achievement gap for Hispanic students, who have lower graduation rates and score lower in reading and math than white and Asian students. Garcia's bill would create a new Hispanic Education Division in the state Public Education Department and a new advisory council.

Some Republicans have argued that the Public Education Department already has the power to focus on Hispanic students.

Among other pre-filed bills:

• Sen. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, has introduced a bill (Senate Bill 6) that would create another district judge position in the 1st Judicial District, which includes Santa Fe, Los Alamos and Rio Arriba counties. Currently, there are seven district judges. The county is in the process of building a new courthouse. It's not clear whether officials have planned for an additional courtroom.

• Sen. Carlos Cisneros, D-Questa, has introduced SB24, which would allow dog races to be simulcast at licensed horse-racing tracks for the purpose of wagering. The state already allows betting on horse races simulcast from other tracks.

• Sen. Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, in anticipation of the planned spaceport near Truth or Consequences, has introduced the Space Flight Informed Consent Act (SB9), which requires people going on spaceflights to sign consent waivers to "assume risks" (read: Not sue the state) for space travel. Fights from the Virgin Galactic spaceport could start as early as 2011. Virgin Galactic plans to sell suborbital space rides for $200,000 a ticket, offering passengers two-and-a-half-hour flights that include about five minutes of weightlessness.

• Sen. Tim Keller, D-Albuquerque, introduced SB18, which would give the Legislature more power — and the governor less power — in selecting members of bodies handling state investments. In the past year, the State Investment Council has been under federal investigation regarding third-party marketers, pay-to-play allegations, possible financial fraud and underperformance. Gov. Bill Richardson this year vetoed a bill that would have lessened his power over the SIC.

• Rep. Karen Giannini, D-Albuquerque, has introduced a measure that could sound the death knell for candy cigarettes and bubble-gum cigars in New Mexico. HB23 would prohibit the sale of any goods "designed to appear as a tobacco product."

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com. Read his political blog at roundhouseroundup.com.