Posted on 01/14/2008 6:05:10 PM PST by CedarDave
Gov. Bill Richardson is back and so is the Legislature.
Lawmakers convene Tuesday for a 30-day session and the governor will map out his priorities during a State of the State speech to a joint meeting of the House and Senate.
Richardson said his speech will have a simple message for legislators: "Health care. Health care. Health care.''
"It's going to be an address saying that we have a responsibility in this Legislature, with the governor, to produce universal health care for every New Mexican and to start it with a comprehensive bill — not piece meal,'' Richardson said.
Also on the governor's to-do list for the Legislature are proposals that lawmakers have considered but rejected in past sessions: domestic partnerships to give certain unmarried couples — homosexual or heterosexual — the same rights and benefits as married couples; and ethics and campaign finance reforms such as limits on campaign contributions and an independent commission to investigate allegations of ethical misconduct.
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Richardson wants to phase in health care coverage for all New Mexicans through a combination of private insurance and government programs. Employers with six or more workers would have to contribute to a state-run fund that will help pay for covering the uninsured. Individuals would need to obtain coverage by buying private insurance, enrolling in a taxpayer-subsidized program or showing they can pay for their health care expenses.
The governor proposes establishing a new agency — the Health Coverage Authority — to make decisions about benefits and who will qualify for state subsidized coverage.
Under Richardson's proposal, the agency would be under the control of the governor because cabinet-level department secretaries and gubernatorial appointees represent a majority of the authority's governing board. The governor would appoint the authority's executive director.
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
NM PING!
Socialized Medicine: one state at a time.
If you want on or off the NM Ping list, please FReepmail me.
Access to the ping list is available to anyone by going to my FR home page.
Maybe Bill will take the money from his choo-choo to pay for it. /s
I will beat this drum until the day I die when a program with reoccurring expenses come up. We run the risk of being forced to cut K-12 Education in those years where there is a revenue shortfall due to economic conditions. The reason for this is that K-12 Education is or was 47% of the overall state budget regardless of how many dollars are available for any given year. So when somebody says medical coverage at any cost or we need the Rail Runner at any cost ask them if that includes reducing the K-12 Education Budget. Because that is the only place where the funding can come from as somehting has to give.
p.s. Notice the diploma on the wall behind the “patient.” LOL!
ROTFL!
While I would personally (sort of) benefit from this thing, (unlike anything else Richardson has tried), It is still a horrible, stupid idea and I hope it fails dismally.
Richardson has swung so far to the left since his dismal run for POTUS. It will hurt him, since NM is really a purple state...
Richardson has always been a lefty. He just usually manages to disguise the fact so that he can get the support of the ‘movers and shakers’ of the business community.
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