New Mexico's Republicans Want A Delay, AG Agrees

Believe it or not, they're still fighting in New Mexico over the plane Governor Bill Richardson wants to buy.

As ANN reported back in June, the Democratic governor wants to buy a $4 million turboprop to replace the state's 1966 Aero-Commander. The proposal has done the bump and grind through the state's legislative process, only to end up at the center of partisan politics.

"It's a safety concern. It's a cost issue. It's something that needs to happen," said New Mexico Transportation Secretary Rhonda Faught. It's the same thing she's been saying for months. But now, Republicans in the legislature say the Richardson administration is pulling a classic bait-and-switch. It seems the Aero-Commander was fitted with a camera to monitor the progress of road construction. While the camera is being installed in another, older aircraft, Republicans are crying foul because the funds for replacing the plane are dedicated to roads.

Ironically, Attorney General Patricia Madrid -- a Democrat -- has ruled the money for a new aircraft should go "for the construction and maintenance of roads and bridges -- not to buy a passenger plane to fly government officials around."

But that's exactly what the state's RFP says: "The aircraft's primary mission will involve the transportation of government officials within, but not limited to, the State of New Mexico."

Madrid says that's downright illegal. Faught disagrees. If the two can't resolve their differences, the whole thing could end up in court.

FMI: www.nmshtd.state.nm.us