State to switch accounting style.(Evening)

Byline: Dan Shingler dshingler@abqtrib.com / 823-3670

Gov. Bill Richardson's administration is about to give New Mexico a one-time extra $237 million paycheck on paper at least through a change in the state's accounting methods.

But state lawmakers on the Legislative Finance Committee are worried legislators will lack the discipline to refrain from spending the windfall.

"Knowing the legislators, they'll say . . . 'What can we blow it on?'" said Rep. Max Coll, a Santa Fe Democrat. "It's going to be difficult to get a hold on that and put the brakes on it."

Representatives of the governor's Department of Finance and Administration told the …