The Santa Fe New Mexican:
Let’s get this (official state) bread: Bags of fresh tortillas awaited lawmakers as they entered the Senate chamber Tuesday afternoon.
Lawmakers received the stacks of tortillas — a bag of corn tortillas and a bag of flour tortillas, both of them from Andele Restaurant in Mesilla — in honor of Senate Bill 315, which would designate the tortilla as New Mexico’s official state bread.
The bill will head to the House after unanimously passing the Senate Monday, where it sparked some important debate.
For instance, Sen. Pat Woods, R-Broadview, asked, “Mr. President, I’ve got a burning question. Which is better, blue corn tortillas or white corn tortillas?”
Green light for ‘red flag’ expansion: The New Mexico Senate on Monday voted to pass House Bill 12, which expands the “extreme risk firearm protection order” — or “red flag” law — to allow police to immediately seize guns in cases of imminent harm and file the so-called red flag petitions themselves.
The proposal now heads to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s desk.
“When people are in crisis and not in a position to make clear decisions, removing firearms from the situation will help keep them and those around them safe,” sponsor Sen. Katy Duhigg, D-Albuquerque, said in a statement following the vote.
Lobbying legislation passes Senate: The Senate on Monday voted 22-15 to advance a measure requiring additional disclosures from lobbyists.
The bill, which now awaits the governor’s signature, would require lobbyists to file a new activity report that identifies their employer and their position on legislation, as well as a supplemental report within 48 hours if their position changes on a bill.
“This is a transparency tool that will help every New Mexican, regardless of whether you live in Santa Fe, Las Cruces or over in Carlsbad, know who is trying to influence your duly elected legislator. That’s a basic tenet of democracy,” sponsor Sen. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, said in a statement after the vote.
However, Senate Republicans argued the measure doesn’t go far enough to shine a light on how the legislative sausage gets made. They proposed floor amendments to require disclosures of gifts — including food and drinks — from lobbyists as well as lobbying by grassroots organizations.
“Republicans sought to shine light on lobbyists’ attempts to peddle influence at the State Capitol, but Democrats voted to protect their powerful special interests by defeating our amendments while pretending to support disclosure,” Senate Minority Leader Bill Sharer, R-Farmington, said in a statement.
He added, “For the party that claims to support ‘transparency’, they certainly worked hard to shield their supporters from any sunlight.”
Immigrant privacy bill heads to governor: A bill prohibiting state employees from sharing personal identifying information with any third party, including the federal government, for the purpose of enforcing federal immigration law cleared its final hurdle and was sent to the governor’s desk on Tuesday.
Senate Bill 36, which would specifically cover information including a person’s national origin, immigration status and medical conditions, passed the House on a 42-23 vote.
Amid Democrats’ assurances the measure would not interfere with federal criminal proceedings, Republicans expressed concerns it would shield immigrants illegally in the country.
“I don’t want to be destigmatizing crime,” said Rep. John Block, R-Alamogordo.
Rep. Cristina Parajón, D-Albuquerque, said the state should not be in the business of federal immigration law enforcement, and that that should be left up to the appropriate agencies.
“It is not really the state’s job to enforce federal immigration law — that is the federal government’s job,” she said.
Silver Alert expansion secures Senate approval: The Senate on Monday unanimously passed House Bill 197, a proposal to expand New Mexico’s Silver Alert system, which alerts media and the public to missing elders.
The expanded system would include any elder believed to display signs of cognitive decline or impairment, without requiring an official diagnosis of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
Tax credits, oil taxes head to Senate floor: A bill that would eliminate state income taxes for lower-income New Mexicans and tie it to a tax hike on oil and gas producers is headed to the Senate floor.
House Bill 14 cleared the Senate Tax, Business and Transportation Committee on a 6-4 party-line vote Tuesday, after the committee amended it to include an increase on alcohol taxes as well as some new tax credits including for volunteer firefighters and emergency medical volunteers and for businesses that employ journalists. The vote took place after a short period of public comment and debate, with representatives of conservation groups and others testifying in favor while oil and gas and business groups spoke in opposition.
The bill would replace the state’s Working Families Tax Credit with an Earned Income Tax Credit and impose an extra 0.28% “oil and gas equalization surtax” when crude prices are $55 a barrel or more, which when added to the existing tax raises the rate to 3.4%.
Quotes of the day: “I was hoping you’d won enough money at the casino to get us gas money to go home.” — Sen.George Muñoz, D-Gallup, teasing the lieutenant governor.
“Senator, you’re going to have to report to Secretary of State for lobbying me for money, so just wanted to make sure to warn you.” —Lt.Gov. Howie Morales.
Muñoz responded, “I didn’t lobby you on a bill; I lobbied you on a loan.”
