Republicans, who constitute the minority in both New Mexico legislative chambers, chastised Democrats as the special session wrapped up Thursday for shutting them out of deliberations, though they did celebrate movement on their push toward medical compact legislation.
Three Republican leaders in the House stepped away from ongoing debate to join their Senate colleagues at a news conference, during which they reiterated their complaints about Democratic majority leaders shutting them out of the legislative process and refusing to hear their bills. The Senate adjourned earlier Thursday.
“If we had been invited to the table, this special session might have dealt with emergency situations that are faced in our communities every day by everyday New Mexicans,” said Rep. Alan Martinez (R-Rio Rancho), the House minority whip.
The Republicans said, in some cases, they only saw bills five minutes in advance of their introduction, and they complained of being left out of pre-session deliberations between Democrats and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham about what would be on the special session agenda. The bills they did introduce did not receive hearings due to the narrow definition of bills germane for the session.
“We came with solutions. We asked for debate. We were shut down at every turn,” said Rep. Gail Armstrong (R-Magdalena), the minority floor leader.
New Mexico House Speaker Javier Martínez, asked Wednesday about Republican complaints, said that Republicans “never asked to be involved.”
Sen. Bill Sharer (R-Farmington), the Senate minority leader, did tout one “win” that played out a couple hours earlier on the Senate floor. Democratic Senate leaders agreed to involve the minority party in a working group on medical compacts, many of which the state has yet to join.
He said public pressure, along with unspecified “sausage-making” convinced Sen. Peter Wirth (D-Santa Fe), the Senate majority leader, to publicly commit to supporting the compacts and working with Republicans on a solution.
“That was a huge win for the people of New Mexico, because now the other half of New Mexico will be represented when we do that,” Sharer said.
