Jan. 18--SANTA FE -- With an unexpected budget shortfall, an aborted transition of power in the governor's office and a contentious battle for the Senate leadership looming, little has gone according to script this year heading into the 2009 legislative session.

That's quite a departure from past years under Gov. Bill Richardson. Senate Minority Whip Mary Jane Garcia, D-Dona Ana, remembered Richardson's first session in 2002. Before it began, he pulled out a legal pad with a long list of bills he wanted passed.

"I said, "by the end of your term?' and he said "no, this year.' And, he got most of it," Garcia said. Richardson boasts on his Web site of getting 78 of the 95 proposals introduced in his first State of the State Address passed that first year.

The plan this year originally called for Richardson to deliver the State of the State on the opening day of the session Tuesday, then hand off the baton to Lt. Gov. Diane Denish and fly off to Washington, D.C., for confirmation hearings to become U.S. commerce secretary. But a grand jury investigation into Richardson's dealings with a California financing company forced him to withdraw his nomination, even as Denish had launched an aggressive statewide campaign preparing for her transition to the governor's office.

New pay-to-play allegations involving state Educational Retirement Board investments were raised in a civil suit by former investment officer Frank Foy just days before the start of the session, sparking

a second federal investigation.

"I think it has weakened the governor," admitted Garcia, who has long been one of Richardson's strongest supporters in the Senate. "None of us ever dreamed we'd see him in this light. We've always seen him as a very strong, productive, forceful, person and a governor who gets things done."

Even without the investigations, Richardson would have a difficult time getting many of his proposals, such as health care and education reform, passed this year because there simply isn't enough money.

A sudden fall in oil and gas revenue has converted what was a $225 million budget surplus when legislators met in August for a special session into a deficit of more than $450 million. Before lawmakers can begin work on the next fiscal year's budget, they must close the current shortfall.

During a pre-session stop in Las Cruces on Wednesday, Richardson proposed a combination of steps to close the gap -- $400 million in operating cuts in the next 18 months, $113 million in improved tax collection methods and $263 million in elimination of capital outlay projects that had been previously authorized. He said the steps would not include a tax increase. All executive agencies have been asked to cut their budgets from 2 percent to 5 percent.

"Compared to other states, we're in good shape," Richardson said, blaming the shortfall on global economic conditions.