In addition to the divisive task of adjusting political boundaries of congressional and legislative districts, state lawmakers who arrive in Santa Fe in September for a special session could face a list of other issues.

Aside from redistricting based on the latest Census numbers, Gov. Susana Martinez has identified at least four other items she wants the Legislature to tackle. These include bills dealing with the unemployment tax paid by businesses, the procurement code's preference for in-state bidders, greater authority for government officials to restrict fireworks and — perhaps the most controversial topic — a repeal of the law authorizing driver's licenses for illegal immigrants and other foreign nationals.

In addition to those items, Martinez spokesman Scott Darnell said the governor is considering adding consideration of a capital outlay bill and funding for a state program that supplements federal food-stamp benefits.

Legislators have asked Martinez to call the session for Sept. 12 — the Monday after the annual Fiesta de Santa Fe ends. But Darnell said the date has yet to be determined. "We have not set or announced a final date yet for the start of the session, but we are looking toward early September," he said in an email Monday.

It's also not clear how much the special session will cost taxpayers. "The per day cost of the last eight special sessions, which actually includes the one-day extraordinary session in 2002, ranged from about $28,000 to $65,000 a day," John Yaeger of the Legislative Council Service said. "It's not unfair to say the cost would likely be in the $40,000 to $50,000 per day range."

Redistricting sessions are required at least once per decade, following the U.S. Census. This is to assure political districts are roughly equal in size, upholding the one-person, one-vote principle.

The last redistricting session began Sept. 4, 2001 and ended Sept. 20, 2001, at a cost of about $700,000.

Aside from the process of redistricting — which by its very nature lends itself to partisan posturing — the debate over continuing to issue driver's licenses to people regardless of their immigration status is guaranteed to raise the noise level at the Roundhouse. It was the single most contentious issue of the regular session earlier this year.

Martinez, who campaigned on the issue when she ran for governor last year, favors repealing the law, passed in the early years of her predecessor Bill Richardson's administration. Martinez was successful getting a repeal bill through the House, but once it reached the Senate, Democrats were able to water down the bill that came out of the House. The two chambers could not reach an agreement.

No senator has publicly announced a change in position on the license issue, so it's far from certain that Martinez has the votes to get a repeal bill through the Senate in September. But lawmakers have been known to have 11th-hour changes of heart on other issues when the pressure gets high, so it would be premature to declare the repeal dead.

Many of the other extra items Martinez wants to see debated in the special session are matters left unsettled in the regular session, which ended in March.

For instance, Martinez vetoed a bill that would have revamped a preference given to in-state businesses for bidding on government contracts. But it wasn't because she opposed the idea: there was a drafting error in that particular bill. The Governor's Office has said Martinez would support that measure if a drafting error is fixed.

Then, there was Martinez's line-item veto of a $128 million tax increase on businesses, which some Democratic lawmakers took to court. The increase was to take effect next January to shore up the state's unemployment compensation fund. The lawsuit argues a governor doesn't have the power of a line-item veto in a bill that's not an appropriation bill.

The state Supreme Court this month decided to put the case on hold to give Martinez and the Legislature a chance to work out their differences in the special session.

Capital outlay is another issue that didn't get resolved in the regular session. A $240 million bill to provide funds for various construction projects around the state died because of filibustering and last-day bickering among legislators.

Martinez's list also includes some issues that were not discussed in the regular session.

Fireworks legislation hasn't been discussed in the Roundhouse in years. But this summer's rash of devastating forest fires prompted Martinez and a bipartisan group of legislators to call for a bill allowing local governments and the state to ban all fireworks during extreme drought conditions.

In June, the governor announced she would use federal stimulus money to extend a state program that supplements federal food-stamp benefits for about 4,000 low-income elderly and disabled New Mexicans. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program otherwise would have died at the beginning of this month.

However, that extra money only was enough to fund the program until September. Martinez might decide to include this issue in the special session.

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