Roundhouse Roundup
The Santa Fe New Mexican
Neville won’t seek reelection: State Sen. Steven Neville, R-Aztec, announced in a news release Friday he is not seeking reelection this year.
First elected in 2004, Neville, a savvy source for education and finance issues, has served as a ranking member of both the Senate Education Committee and the Senate Finance Committee and was the Senate Republican Caucus chair at one time.
“It is with deep gratitude to my community and the State of New Mexico that I announce my time in the Legislature is drawing to a close,” Neville said in a statement. “I am eager to spend more time with my family and pass the torch to the next generation of leadership.”
Neville said he plans to serve out his term through the end of the year.
Why not sue them all?: A 2022 candidate for state land commissioner has filed a civil complaint against 69 of the 70 members of the House of Representatives, asking the U.S. District Court in New Mexico to determine whether they are “constitutionally and legally authorized to perform the duties of the office they occupy.” It does not ask the court to remove them.
The complaint, filed by Larry Marker of Roswell earlier this week, alleges the 2022 general election was “illegally conducted using election equipment that was not in compliance with state or federal law.”
The only House member not included in the complaint is Rep. Jared Hembree, R-Roswell, who was not elected to his position but appointed to it earlier this year.
Hospital merger oversight: A bill to give the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance oversight over hospital mergers in New Mexico passed the Senate on a 27-15 vote Friday afternoon.
“We don’t want to encourage monopolies in our state,” said Sen. Katy Duhigg, D-Albuquerque, sponsor of Senate Bill 15.
Duhigg said the bill would help protect New Mexicans from rising prices and other negative consequences that can accompany hospital mergers. It would only apply to hospitals and would only be temporary, she said, staying in effect for a year while the stakeholders meet and come up with a long-term solution.
“Senate Bill 15 is a compromise,” Duhigg said. “It is a first step.”
Duhigg said New Mexico is one of just 11 states that doesn’t have oversight of major hospital transactions. The bill would let the superintendent of insurance “put appropriate conditions on a merger or, in the very rare circumstance, she could block a merger.”
Republicans said the problem with health care in New Mexico is too much state regulation, which makes it harder for the little guy to compete.
The bill passed along party lines, which means it didn’t quite get the two-thirds majority needed to pass with an “emergency clause” that would have allowed it to take effect immediately.
Gun ban at polling places OK’d: Members of the House Judiciary Committee voted 7-4 Friday in favor of bill prohibiting people from carrying firearms within 100 feet of polling places. It now moves to the House floor for a final vote.
Senate Bill 5, which has already cleared the Senate, would make any violation of the law a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a $500 fine.
Some exceptions are carved out, including for law enforcement officers. The bill’s sponsors say the law is needed to ensure poll workers and others do not feel intimidated during elections.
Never give up: Rep. William Rehm, R-Albuquerque, a retired police officer, for years has pitched a bill to impose tougher penalties on felons who are in possession of a firearm or destructive device.
The measure would increase the penalty for a felon caught with one of those devices to five years from three for a first offense and calls for up to nine years for a second offense.
The House Judiciary Committee voted 7-3 Friday to send House Bill 316 to the House floor.
Rehm quipped to the committee members that if they approve HB 316, “I won’t be back with a felon-in-possession bill” next year.
House bests Senate in charity game: Members of the House were giddy and gloating Friday as they celebrated their Thursday night win over the Senate in the annual Hoops 4 Hope basketball game.
The House took the game at the Santa Fe Indian School 34-22. Come Friday, the chamber was blasting Queen’s rock anthem “We Are the Champions” on its loudspeaker system to let everyone know of the victory.
Hoops 4 Hope is an annual fundraising effort to help support cancer patients at the University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center. Over the past two decades it has raised about $300,000, according to the center’s website.
Members of the House strode into the Senate chamber to reclaim the “Hoops 4 Hope” trophy during a floor debate — the Senate won last year’s game.
“I’ve got to say, you beat us fair and square, all right, but next year is another year,” said Sen. Bill O’Neill, D-Albuquerque, who organizes the game.
Sen. Cliff Pirtle, R-Roswell, one of the more aggressive players of the night, said House members had “put up the weakest layups you’ve ever seen.”
“I had the opportunity to show them what the upper chamber does not just to their shots but to their bills,” he said. “You put in trash shots or you put in trash bills, the Senate will take them out.”
Budget vote coming soon: The state budget could be among the items lawmakers take up during a busy last weekend of the session.
House Bill 2 was originally scheduled to be heard in the Senate Finance Committee on Friday afternoon but was removed from the agenda at the last minute. Committee Chairman George Muñoz, D-Gallup, said on the Senate floor Friday he hopes to get HB 2 “wrapped up tomorrow.”
Muñoz said his committee has a few more Senate bills to get through and send on to the House. Then, he said, the panel will “maybe start hearing some House bills, depending on how they’re hearing our Senate bills.”
Quote of the day: “Big Brother tells us that we love Big Brother, but we all know in our hearts that we don’t love Big Brother, but we do what Big Brother says because we’re afraid of Big Brother.” — Sen. Bill Sharer, R-Farmington, debating against a bill to give the state oversight over hospital mergers.
