Richardson & Redford
All of you who bet that Big Bill was going to finish out his second four year term, start hedging those bets. Richardson is reportedly under consideration to become the CEO for the Motion Picture Association of America. This is a major plum. The current CEO, former Congressman Dan Glickman, pulls down a whopping $1.3 million a year in salary and benefits. The job is primarily lobbying Congress and is based in DC.

The news that Richardson's name was under consideration for the job that Glickman will leave next month was first reported by the National Journal's "Under the Influence" magazine.

Others in the mix are Robert Pisano, the former vice chairman of MGM, and currently MPAA's COO and Richard Bates, who was recently named the head of Disney's Washington D.C. office.

The Guv's office told the New Mexican in response to the job speculation:

The governor is not interested in this job and he is not interested in becoming a lobbyist. He plans to live in Santa Fe and drive around the country visiting Major League ballparks after term ends..

Only the other day the Guv hosted Hollywood acting legend Robert Redford at a Santa Fe news conference where Redford announced a new center for training Hispanic and Native American filmmakers. His administration has pushed hard for Hollywood here, passing major tax breaks for the industry that has made movie production here flourish like never before. The tax breaks, costing the state about $80 million a year, have generated controversy, with some state lawmakers questioning the generosity.

IMPACT ANALYSIS

We've blogged for the past year of the possibility of Richardson making an exit and paving the way for a Diane Denish governorship. Most of the speculation has centered on Bill going to work in some capacity for the Obama administration. But parachuting into private industry would be a much smoother way out, avoiding the controversy that is inevitable with any political appointment.

A Richardson adios in April would make Lt. Governor Denish the Governor seven months before the November election. That's a potential nightmare for the Republicans. Her name ID would soar, she would have the power of the incumbency and best of all--the chance to separate herself once and for all from the shadow of Richardson.

A Richardson departure would have to be welcome by the White House. It would mean the odds of the Guv's office staying in Democratic hands would soar, helping President Obama in his 2012 reelection effort in this crucial swing state. It makes one wonder if the White House, with connections to the K Street lobbying crowd, isn't putting a word in for Bill.

Richardson would be the first Governor to vacate the office without finishing his term since 1962 when Ed Mechem had himself appointed to fill a US Senate vacancy.

NEWS AVALANCHE

The latest Richardson stunner came amid a cascade of state political news. The Legislature was in day two of its special session to solve the state's budget crisis, city elections were held throughout the state and yet another state Bureau of Elections director was leaving the Secretary of State's office.

From Santa Fe there's news on the latest deal to solve the state's estimated $600 million shortfall for the budget year starting July 1st. The Senate late Tuesday passed, on a 25 to 15 vote, a bill that raises approximately $200 million through a combination of gross receipts and personal income tax changes. The income tax changes are aimed at the criticism heard here and elsewhere that the Senate was sparing the wealthy from any of the budget pain:

The Senate drafted an omnibus tax bill that would raise gross receipts taxes one eighth of a percent, allow local governments to raise gross receipts taxes on food, and close a New Mexico personal income tax deduction for payment of federal income taxes. That deduction is available only to state residents who itemize on their returns. The bill also would increase the amount of tax rebates for lower-income New Mexicans and allow more people to take advantage of that rebate.

A House committee, which on Monday voted against a bill raising the tax on cigarettes by 75 cents a pack, did an about face and voted — along party lines — to recommend passage of the bill. The committee agreed to earmark 25 cents of the increase for education.

The move to close that personal income tax deduction would hit high-income taxpayers most and was made to placate opponents of the tax on food. They argue that tax and other tax increases to balance the budget are being targeted mainly at middle and lower income residents. The deduction change made it possible for the Senate leadership to persuade progressive senators to swallow hard and vote for the bill which went to the House where debate went on into the wee morning hours.

ELECTION NEWS

No surprises in Santa Fe or Rio Rancho on Election Day. Incumbent Mayors David Coss and Tom Swisstack in Rio Rancho are both re-elected.

We had a cliffhanger in Espanola. Alice Lucero beat Alfred Herrera by fifteen votes. Lucero 791; Herrera 776. Herrera gave up his District 2 seat to run for mayor. Incumbent Mayor Joseph Maestas did not seek reelection.

Election results from around the state here.

ANOTHER ELECTIONS DIRECTOR OUT

Alligators reported Tuesday night that Kelli (Baca) Fulgenzi will become the new Bureau of Elections director under Secretary of State Herrera after yet another director bit the dust. Fulgenzi was an assistant city clerk in ABQ before joining the SOS as administrator of the Bureau.

Fulgenzi will succeed attorney A.J. Salazar who abruptly quit the $95,000 a year job after holding it for less than a year.

Insiders say Salazar, like previous election directors Daniel Ivey Soto and Gerald Gonzales, clashed with Deputy Secretary of State Don Francisco Trujillo who manages the day to day affairs at the SOS office.

The June primary election is only a couple of months away, but Herrera says she expects it to go smoothly, despite the turnover in the bureau. That's more than can be said for anyone who takes the bureau job. Mary is going to have to have a talk with Trujillo if we are going to get an election director who can stay the course.