How bills dispute might play out

Steve Terrell | The New Mexican

2/11/2008 - 2/12/08

Some possible scenarios for what might happen in this week's showdown over Gov. Bill Richardson's deadline to act on some key spending bills:

The governor blinks: Richardson could act on the capital outlay and "junior budget" bills before 6 p.m. Wednesday, giving the Legislature time to try to override any line-item vetoes before Thursday's noon adjournment.

Richardson could claim he's cooperating with the Wednesday deadline out of a spirit of compromise — while still insisting Lt. Gov. Diane Denish had no legal standing to trigger the deadline by signing for receipt of the bills Saturday.

The governor stands pat: Richardson could send the Legislature a message Thursday morning — perhaps after exercising line-item vetoes on spending projects he doesn't like.

If this happens, and the Legislature runs out of time to try to override any vetoes, individual government entities denied funding for projects could try to take the veto issue to court. Courts then would have to decide whether the legal deadline for Richardson to act was Wednesday night — in which case the projects would have automatically become law — or Thursday morning, meaning the governor still had the right to veto.

The governor goes to court: Richardson could ask a court to decide whether the bills legally were received Saturday night. Time is running out for such a scenario.

The governor divides the houses: Richardson could act on the bills by Wednesday night, but go easy on vetoing projects by members of the House — which normally is more friendly to the governor — while laying into Senate projects with his veto pen. Under this possibility, the House would be less likely to vote to override.