GOVERNOR READY TO COOPERATE

SANTA FE - Republican Gov. Gary Johnson will stress his hope for
cooperation with the Democrat-controlled Legislature when he delivers his
annual State of the State address today.

"He's going to be talking about 'a new beginning,' '' said Dave Miller, the
governor's legislative liaison. "He's still very encouraged."

The state's 112 legislators will have a full agenda as they gather at the
Roundhouse for the start of their 60-day session, which is wide open in
terms of topics that can be considered.

Fashioning a state budget to pay for operating state government and public
schools will be the lawmakers' top priority.

"The budget is the big item, and that's what we'll be concentrating on,"
said Senate Minority Leader Stuart Ingle, R-Portales.

Other issues are expected to include education, health care, tax cuts,
economic development and electric deregulation.

During his first six years in office, Johnson prided himself on not
compromising with the Legislature's Democrat majorities. His numerous
vetoes earned him the nickname of "Governor No."

In recent weeks, Johnson has been singing a slightly different tune.

The governor has said he sees an opportunity to work with legislators in a
way he never has before, particularly with the defeat of longtime House
Speaker Raymond Sanchez, D-Albuquerque, in the November general election.

Both Johnson and Rep. Ben Lujan, D-Santa Fe, who is expected to be elected
House speaker today, succeeding Sanchez, said they were encouraged by the
cooperative tone of a pre-session meeting.

Issues that could blow up during the session include Johnson's push to
reform drug laws and the continuing debate over Indian gambling and
tribal-state revenue sharing.

Johnson, who has called the nation's "war on drugs" a failure, wants to
decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana and to lessen
criminal penalties for other drug offenses.

"Drug reform is going to be talked about. It's going to be debated and,
hopefully, it'll be acted upon," Miller said.

However, Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, said Democrats do not intend to
let the drug issue dominate. "We're not going to let that issue drown out
other priorities," he said.

Democrats will have a 42-28 majority lead in the House and a 24-18
advantage in the Senate.

And Senate Republicans told Johnson on Monday that drug reform was not one
of their priorities, said Senate Minority Whip Leonard Lee Rawson, R-Las
Cruces. "We're not going to get sidetracked by the drug issue," he said.

House Majority Whip James Taylor, D-Albuquerque, said drug-law reform is
not resonating with the public.

"Neither is vouchers," Taylor said, referring to Johnson's proposal to give
parents $5,200 vouchers that could be used to pay tuition at public,
private or religious schools.

Legislators have rejected similar voucher proposals in the past.

On another score, a lawsuit by three tax-poor school districts has put
pressure on lawmakers to address the issue of how the state pays for public
school construction and renovation.

A state district judge found the system for financing construction unfair.
A task force has recommended spending about $1.3 billion on construction
and repairs over the next five years.

Rep. Rick Miera, D-Albuquerque, chairman of the House Education Committee,
said Monday he would sponsor a bill and a proposed constitutional amendment
embodying the task force recommendations.

"I think this is a great opportunity to provide equity throughout the
state," Miera said.

Much of the annual state budget battle will center on how big a pay raise
to give teachers and whether there is enough money to enact Johnson's
proposed $75 million personal income tax cut.

Lujan said lawmakers are willing to consider Johnson's tax-cut proposal.
But he said legislators want to first raise teachers' salaries so that they
are on a par with their counterparts in surrounding states.

There could be fireworks in the Senate today over proposals by majority
Democrats to change procedural rules to limit senators' assignments to
committees. Republicans have complained the proposed rule changes are
unfair to the minority party.

On the House side, House Minority Leader Ted Hobbs, R-Albuquerque, said he
plans to propose some rules changes in that chamber, including a plan to
change how House committees are appointed.