The clock ticked past 12:40 a.m. Tuesday when members of a New Mexico House committee decided to shelve Senate Bill 17, the controversial measure that would require training and licensing for gun store employees across the state and ban them from selling certain types of firearms, while its sponsor reviewed more than a half-dozen proposed amendments.
The committee decided to “roll” the bill, which means committee members refrained from voting so the bill’s sponsor can amend it before another hearing. However, the legislative session ends at noon on Thursday and the House Judiciary Committee has yet to publicly post a new agenda, putting the bill’s future in jeopardy.
Bill co-sponsor Rep. Andrea Romero (D-Santa Fe) told the committee that lawmakers have filed a number of amendments to the bill, which both Democrats and Republicans have scrutinized on constitutional grounds, and said she needed more time to properly review them. The proposed amendments ranged from a ban on cops searching home-based gun dealers without a warrant to limiting how long law enforcement agencies can retain some data.
“It is 12:38. We’ve got two and a half days in this session. The session is still young. There’s still a lot of time,” committee member and House Speaker Javier Martínez (D-Albuquerque) told Romero from the dais. “If you want to take feedback and maybe propose amendments, either tonight or in the next few hours, I think we absolutely should consider that.”
Similarly, lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday introduced 11 amendments to the main medical malpractice reform proposal, House Bill 99, but most failed to pass the committee on Tuesday.
Pickleball, police and more
At a more decent hour Tuesday morning, the Senate Finance Committee unanimously advanced a bill to fund $1.3 billion in statewide “capital outlay” initiatives, a category that refers to large construction projects, renovations and other seven-figure undertakings.
Senate Bill 240 funds a number of projects, including $210,000 for pickleball courts in Tijeras, $2.5 million for a State Police facility in Grants and nearly $19 million for statewide school bus replacements.
Since before the legislative session began, lawmakers have taken a cautious approach to taking on new “recurring spending,” which refers to new hires and new state programs that require long-term funding each year. But capital outlay projects typically require large, one-time commitments.
153 messages and counting
Legislative messages for 30-day sessions during Gov. Michelle Grisham's time in office
Dduring 30-day legislative sessions in New Mexico, the executive branch can issues legislative messages to authorize lawmakers to take up non-budget items. The session this year features more than 150 such messages from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
During 30-day sessions, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham can authorize lawmakers to consider non-budgetary legislation by issuing legislative messages.
So far this session, crime, medical malpractice, immigrant detention and more have appeared on the agenda alongside the $11 billion budget. Lujan Grisham has issued 153 such messages, split roughly evenly between the House of Representatives and the Senate.
According to a Source NM review, that’s the highest number of messages since Lujan Grisham’s first 30-day session in 2020. That year, Lujan Grisham issued 170 messages.
The governor has already signed two of her priorities this session into law, including the Immigrant Safety Act and medical licensure compacts.
The most recent of Lujan Grisham’s messages came last week. The Feb. 12 message authorized the Senate to take up a Senate Bill 267, which relates to how the New Mexico Environment Department prioritizes permits for hazardous waste disposal.
Talk about inflation
New Mexico may update the civil fines for stealing water for the first time in nearly 120 years.
Over the weekend the Senate passed House Bill 111 on a 39-3 vote, sending the bill to the governor’s desk. If signed into law, it would authorize state water officials to hand out stiffer fines for violations of New Mexico water laws, and raise the daily fine for using water without a valid water right from $100 per day — first established in 1907, five years before New Mexico earned statehood — to $3,400 per day.
Sponsor Rep. Kristina Ortez (D-Taos), told Source NM Tuesday the bill is an important “modernization” to the law.
“This bill raises fines to reflect today’s realities, cracks down on the sale of illegally diverted water and ensures violations begin accruing penalties at the notice stage,” Ortez said. “Water laws only work if they can be enforced, and this bipartisan bill makes clear that breaking the law can no longer be cheaper than following it.”
‘The people’s drum’
Looking ahead
Wednesday marks the last full day of lawmaking before the legislative session ends at noon on Thursday. We’ll be watching whether the remaining priority bills, including the Senate gun bill that was rescheduled early Tuesday morning, cross the finish line in time to make it to the governor’s desk.
Similarly, all eyes are on medical malpractice reform, which only advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. Over the weekend, the House overwhelmingly approved it on a 66-3 vote.
