REHAB FUNDING LEVEL SNAGS JOHNSON DRUG-REFORM PACKAGE

Gov. Gary Johnson's drug reform package got body-slammed last week from an
unexpected source - one of its key supporters. Sen. Cisco McSorley,
D-Albuquerque, informed Johnson he would not sponsor the governor's bill to
spend $9.8 million on drug treatment and prevention programs.

"I cannot sponsor your bill," McSorley wrote to Johnson. "Your bill insures
the death of drug reform for this year."

McSorley contends New Mexico should spend at least $40 million for
substance abuse treatment and prevention programs.

McSorley told the Republican governor he was unimpressed by Johnson's
contention that $9.8 million represents a 30 percent increase in spending
on drug treatment by the administration.

"It doesn't matter if your numbers are a 33 percent increase; $9.8 million
is just too small," McSorley wrote. "It is inadequate because it is not
recurring and it is not built into the budget base."

McSorley also objects to Johnson's desire to use money from New Mexico's
tobacco settlement fund to pay for drug treatment programs. McSorley
contends doing so would pit needy programs against each other.

His comments caught the administration by surprise, particularly since
McSorley, one of the Legislature's more liberal members, was the only
lawmaker to serve on Johnson's drug policy advisory group. Johnson's
multibill drug reform package is based on the group's recommendations.

"Geez, Cisco, meltdown," said Dave Miller, Johnson's legislative liaison,
in reaction to McSorley's letter. "Talk about, 'Up in Smoke,' to quote
Cheech and Chong."

"It blew my mind," said Rep. Joe Thompson, R-Albuquerque, the primary
sponsor of Johnson's drug reform package in the House. "To summarily
dismiss the whole thing because we don't have this massive spending is
ridiculous."

Thompson said drug law reformers need to focus on "what can be done, not
what can't be done."

"I think we have a marvelous opportunity, and I don't want to squander it
because we can't get everything we want," Thompson said.

McSorley had met with Johnson a few days before he hand-delivered his
letter to Miller on Feb. 12. Johnson apparently thought that meeting went
well, as is evident from a Feb. 8 memo Miller wrote to McSorley at
McSorley's request, which summarized the governor's position on drug treatment.

"First and foremost, Governor Johnson is a big admirer of yours," Miller
wrote to McSorley. "Your political tenacity and your outspoken advocacy for
drug policy reform have been noted and will not be forgotten."

Meanwhile, Johnson found some other Democrats to sponsor his drug treatment
bill, including House Appropriations and Finance Committee Chairman Max
Coll and House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee Chairman Patsy
Trujillo Knauer, both of Santa Fe.

Ten Democrats signed on in the Senate, including Senate Finance Committee
Chairman Ben Altamirano of Silver City and Senate Rules Committee Chairman
Manny Aragon of Albuquerque.

Aragon had complained earlier this session that Johnson needed to "put your
money where your mouth is" when it came to drug treatment.

But House Speaker Ben Lujan, D-Santa Fe, and Senate President Pro Tem
Richard Romero, D-Albuquerque, said they agree with McSorley that $9.8
million is inadequate.

"If we're really serious about addressing the problem of drugs in New
Mexico, we need to step forward and show that we really support the
prospect of treatment and prevention by providing sufficient dollars to
take care of it," Lujan said. "Cisco and I have been talking, and certainly
we felt that $40 million would be something that would address those needs
that are out there."

Romero said he's not keen on Johnson's idea to tap tobacco settlement money
for drug treatment. Romero said he would rather use some of the $500
million-plus in new money available for lawmakers to spend this session as
they fashion a state budget.

Romero said he does not know how much drug treatment money is needed. "But
I have to trust people like Cisco," said Romero, who was elected pro tem
when he, McSorley and Sen. Leonard Tsosie, D-Crownpoint, joined with all 18
Senate Republicans to oust Aragon earlier this session.

Anti-smoking groups also are concerned about Johnson's proposal to use
tobacco settlement money to pay for drug treatment programs.

"The tobacco settlement money has already been allocated," said Linda
Siegle, a lobbyist for the American Cancer Society and the American Heart
Association. "We have a concern that there be enough money for anti-smoking
efforts."

Former Democratic Gov. Toney Anaya downplayed the rupture between McSorley
and Johnson over drug treatment money.

"This is a political environment, and things ultimately get worked out,"
Anaya said. "The biggest issue that I've run into on the treatment is the
funding source. . . . That's just an issue the legislators and the governor
may have to try to work out."

Anaya and Mickey Barnett, Republican national committeeman from New Mexico,
are this session's odd couple. The pair were hired by the New York
City-based Lindesmith Center to lobby for passage of Johnson's drug reform
package. Funded by billionaire philanthropist George Soros, the Lindesmith
Center is dedicated to drug law reform.

"I'm just hopeful that when it finally comes time to vote that everybody
will just vote their conscience," Barnett said. "And I think Cisco's for
the bills, so I hope that when he actually votes, he won't vote no just
because he doesn't agree on the funding bill."