Going in to this year's legislative session, Gov. Bill Richardson was tired but upbeat, optimistic about the chances for some of his key plans.

Just back from the presidential campaign trail, he was ready to score big on health care, domestic partners, stem cell research and ethics reform. He was on good terms with key lawmakers and the lieutenant governor.

But what a difference 28 days can make.

As of Tuesday, Richardson was imploring the full Senate to pull his domestic-partners bill from a Senate committee; he wanted the full House to act on his stem cell bill, and he appeared ready to settle for a watered down version of the wide-ranging health care reform he proposed.

At the same time, he was at odds with Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, publicly disagreeing with Attorney General Gary King and crosswise with members of both the House and Senate.

And with one and a half days to go, Richardson hadn't ruled out calling a special session over health care, a move that's not likely to be popular.

Those who know him best say Richardson is having a hard time adjusting to being back in the Roundhouse after his quest for the White House.

"He has to adjust to it," Denish said. "He's in that period in his governorship where he's not going to be running for re-election, and it automatically changes the dynamics."

She added: "There is a way to work cooperatively, I think. But you have to figure out what the way is, whether it's being fair and pushing hard for the things you believe in or whether its making people fearful of what you might do."

Despite the tension and the ticking clock, Richardson wasn't writing off his efforts this session, even with so much of his agenda unfinished.

"The session still has three days to go," he said Tuesday. "Sessions make decisions at the very end."

In this case, the decisions might come down to the very, very end. With the session set to end at noon Thursday, it seems like everything is in play.

Spending-bills spat

One major item up in the air is what will happen with Legislature-approved spending bills.

Denish on Saturday evening accepted capital-outlay measures on behalf of Richardson, because his office wasn't open.

Denish and King, both Democrats like Richardson, have said she acted within her rights. King issued an advisory letter Monday night saying he finds nothing in the law that would prevent her from accepting the bills on behalf of the governor.

Richardson said Tuesday that he disagreed with King's position. The governor contends he has until Thursday morning to act on what he has characterized as pork bills; legislative leaders say he only has until tonight. The difference is key: It gives legislators more time to override any potential vetoes before the session ends.

"Without a court ruling," Richardson said, "I'm going to continue to scrutinize those bills with the understanding that I have until Thursday to act on them."

The governor also said: "It's surprising the attorney general would imply that the governor is required to state that people who are not the governor's office staff cannot act on his behalf."

As far as King is concerned, however, the clock started ticking Saturday for the governor to act on the bills, meaning the deadline is today.

Richardson, however, disagreed, saying: "There is nothing to suggest the lieutenant governor can accept bills when the Constitution says the bills shall be presented to the governor."

King said Tuesday that it's now up to the governor to act. "I think to some extent he ignores the advice of the attorney general at his own risk," King said.

The New Mexico Constitution says bills not acted on within three days of being accepted by the governor automatically become law.

Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, said the Senate isn't backing down on its position that the deadline for Richardson to act is tonight.

Crosswise with Denish

Apart from being at odds with lawmakers, Richardson is crosswise with Denish over a decision he made to not give her state police security, even though there was money in the state budget for her to have that protection. She eventually hired her own private security for a couple of events.

Richardson defended his move. "When I'm out of state and the lieutenant governor is acting governor, she will get security," he said. "That has always been the case when I have been governor and that will always be the case in the future. She will not have permanent security. We've never had that in New Mexico."

But Denish cited at least two times when she was acting governor and requested security and was refused by the Governor's Office.

"It's happened from time to time," she said. "Now, that's assuming they tell me every time he's out of state. Sometimes we find out; sometimes they let us know."

Denish said Richardson's recent refusal to grant her security sends a "clear message."

That message?

"That I'm not, that an acting governor role, is not important," she said. "He doesn't take it seriously."

Richardson, however, stood by his comments about Denish getting security when he's out of town.

Gilbert Gallegos, spokesman for the governor, said: "He has tried to accommodate the lieutenant governor with every request." In 2007, he said, Denish was provided with state police security 207 times.

However, Richardson on Tuesday vetoed budget language that would have ensured Denish would have state police guarding her when Richardson is out of state.

So how is the security scuffle affecting the relationship between state government's two top Democrats?

"I've always said the governor and the lieutenant governor are a marriage of convenience because governors don't get to pick their running mates," Denish said. "We've had a very good relationship on policy issues. ... I think it's probably one of those times when we're having a spat," she said, adding she thinks it will pass.

The fight has lawmakers angry as well.

"That's really a slap at her," Senate Minority Whip Leonard Lee Rawson, R-Las Cruces, said. "But it's also a slap at the Senate and the Legislature. It's in her budget. We've approved the budget for it.

"She's a responsible, elected official, and she ought to be allowed to have it," Rawson said. "To simply tell the state police to not provide the services to her, and yet at the same time, he has 15 officers surrounding him, that's a disrespect."

Health-reform struggle

Health care reform — Richardson's main agenda item this session — hasn't found an easy path for the 60-year-old governor. Midway through the session, he called lawmakers a "do-nothing Legislature" regarding that topic.

What the House has done is gut his proposal by removing a requirement that all New Mexicans have health insurance. The measure, now pending in the Senate, would set up a Health Coverage Authority that would come up with a plan to get the state's 400,000 uninsured residents covered. Richardson had wanted to mandate insurance coverage by 2010.
The makeup of the authority caused a fight over who should appoint how many people. Richardson and lawmakers reached a compromise that gave them nearly equal say on appointments.

Richardson, however, won't give in on one point: He wants to appoint the executive director. "If the Senate passes the bill ... with my authority intact to appoint the executive director, there will be no need for a special session," the governor said.

Calling a special session wouldn't sit well with legislators, some of whom say privately they would adjourn without taking up the health care issue if Richardson did call them back to Santa Fe after the regular session ends.

While Richardson said he'd prefer not to have a special session, he believes his ability to chose the director is a function of the executive branch. "I think I've made myself clear: I don't want to have a special session, but I am committed to having health care reform for thousands of New Mexicans who don't have a voice," he said.

If the Senate approves the bill as the governor wants, he envisions revisiting mandatory health insurance in 2009.

Meanwhile, the House passed but the Senate rejected a measure that would allow medical records to be accessed electronically, one of the bills Richardson wanted this year.

Other bills at risk

The governor's other proposals are far from becoming law — although anything could happen in the last hours.

Early in the session, the House passed a measure to give domestic partners the same rights as married couples. The bill, however, didn't have the votes to make it out of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Richardson is advocating the bill be blasted out of the committee, essentially sidestepping a hearing there and bringing it to the full floor for debate. But advocates say they aren't optimistic about that happening.

On the stem cell research bill, Richardson also wants the bill — which was approved by the Senate — brought to the full House floor for a debate, he said.

Ethics reform bills are crawling through the Legislature, and the majority of legislation recommended by the governor's Ethics Task Force appears doomed.

Lame-duck talk

So is Richardson, who can't seek another term in 2010, a lame duck?

"That's the $64,000 question, ain't it?" said Sen. Shannon Robinson, D-Albuquerque.

Robinson's answer is no, but he said it's time for Richardson to line up the support he needs. "Now we're in a fight with the big guy, and it brings you to the point where he has to prove his agenda or abandon it," the senator said.

"I think he still carries the big stick, and I think he's hard to beat," Robinson said.

Richardson downplays the speculation he has lost some of his pull. "I invite anybody to test whether Bill Richardson is a lame duck," he said. "I've got possibly three more years here. Everybody wants to test if I'm a lame duck, please proceed. I'd be very interested in facing that challenge."

Contact Kate Nash at 986-3036 or knash@sfnewmexican.com. Read her blog, Green Chile Chatter