GOVERNOR GIRDS FOR COMING BUDGET BATTLES

SANTA FE - Gov. Gary Johnson said he will take the same aggressive approach
he has in past years when it comes to writing a state budget for the
upcoming session of the Legislature.

He also reiterated that Democrats will probably be as hard-nosed as ever
about his plans for an income-tax cut and school vouchers.

But in the same breath, Johnson predicted his last legislative session as
governor will be a little more conciliatory on other key issues where he
thinks Republicans and Democrats can finally compromise.

Johnson said he thinks most legislators are poised to go along with
legislation to ease some of the state's drug laws, even though some of the
same bills were killed during the 2001 session.

"From all I hear, these (drug-reform bills) might actually fly," Johnson
said during a briefing Tuesday with reporters.

The 2002 legislative session is set to begin Jan. 15. The 30-day session
will be devoted to budget and tax issues, as well as any other issue the
governor puts on the agenda.

Johnson will once again introduce legislation to make medical marijuana
legal, decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana and
eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for some drug offenses.

He will also back a bill that would give judges discretion to sentence
nonviolent drug offenders to treatment rather than prison.

Johnson said he thinks Democrats who control the Legislature might look
past their political differences with him and pass drug-law reform bills.

"There seems to be a realization that if they (Democrats) don't pass these
bills now, that they may never get passed, and that it would be something
they believe in," Johnson said. "So, couple those Democrats with the
Republicans that also go along with the legislation, and my understanding
is that they might actually get passed."

Johnson also said he hopes legislators might meet him halfway on ways to
restructure the system that oversees public schools.

He said any type of reform that has a price tag attached to it will
probably go nowhere this session because of the state's bleak revenue forecast.

If vouchers are not an option, Johnson said, he at least wants some way to
hold schools accountable for the state money spent on them. He said he will
push again to shift control over the education bureaucracy to the
Governor's Office.

He said he will also endorse legislation dealing with charter schools.

"The focus should be, maybe for the first time, on real reform without
having money attached to it," Johnson said.

Johnson also repeated his willingness to entertain a debate over the death
penalty.

While he favors capital punishment, Johnson said last month's execution of
Terry Clark forced him to rethink whether the death penalty is really a
deterrent to crime.

He said he is undecided about the issue, but when asked whether he would
sign a bill repealing the death penalty, Johnson said: "That may be the case."

Still, even if he can compromise with legislators on some issues, Johnson
sounded a familiar theme when it came to a likely battle over budget issues
when the Legislature meets.

He predicted Democrats will resist his recommendations, which have not yet
been fleshed out, to cut some Medicaid benefits to balance the budget.

He said he will take out his veto pen if Democrats take too much money from
state reserves to pay for increases in Medicaid, education or other areas
of the budget.

"I'll bet I go down blazing," Johnson said of his eagerness to veto any
budget increases proposed by Democrats.

State budget officials believe it will take another $60 million next year
to continue to pay for Medicaid, the federal health-care entitlement for
low-income residents.

But the state is only expecting to have $8 million in extra money to add to
the budget next year.

So, Johnson is trying to figure out how to cut benefits in order to save
about $50 million.

But Democrats are likely to fight the cuts, which they say could hurt the
state's poorest residents.