[LWVNM Action] HJR1 - Poor way to block a bill

[Richard Mason]

As stated in the article, Senators should take a vote. If they want to
oppose it then vote against it. They don't want to face the voters having a
vote against it on their record.  Disgraceful.

Dick Mason


https://nmpoliticalreport.com/2020/02/16/proposal-to-tap-land-grant-permanent-fund-for-early-childhood-education-suffers-another-setback/?mc_cid=611fa45a15&mc_eid=a3d076ea39

For years, it was one of the most talked-about proposals in the Roundhouse.

There was repeated excitement, momentum, controversy and resistance — all
over legislation calling for a constitutional amendment to tap more of the
state’s nearly $20 billion Land Grant Permanent Fund to pay for early
childhood education.

But this year, the atmosphere is more one of muted neglect.

That’s likely because there’s a new kid on the block, a proposal to create
an early childhood trust fund with other revenue streams. The idea has
traveled further in its first year than the land grant proposal ever has —
it reached the governor’s desk after being passed by the full Senate on
Friday.

A big setback for the land grant proposal came on Saturday in the Senate
Rules Committee, where most members walked out before the legislation,
known this year as House Joint Resolution 1, was heard. Many legislators
had been in the room for other matters earlier that morning, yet only four
were left when HJR1 was taken up, depriving its supporters of a quorum
needed for a vote.

“I apologize. Some of my members decided to pick up and leave,” said
Sen. Linda Lopez, committee chairwoman, later adding she believed the
absent members left the room on purpose because they opposed the bill.
“I’ve been here for many years and I understand the game that’s being
played.”

Some of those absent — such as Senate President Pro Tem Mary Kay Papen and
Sen. Cliff Pirtle, R-Roswell — later denied that they left because they
opposed the bill, saying they needed to head to the floor session. Yet
Minority Leader Stuart Ingle, while saying he had no knowledge of any
coordinated effort to avoid a quorum, offered a more blunt assessment.

“It’s not a bad way to kill a bill,” said Ingle, R-Portales.

Lopez said she would keep the initiative on the committee’s agenda for its
next meeting on Monday, but that she expected members might again leave to
prevent a vote. If that happens, the bill faces near-certain death because
the session ends on Thursday.

While the bill has been blocked by Senate committees in the past, this year
is different as the political will and momentum has clearly shifted to the
new proposal: House Bill 83 and its counterpart Senate Bill 3. They call
for an appropriation of $320 million to start a new Early Childhood
Education and Care Fund that would draw on two other funding sources in
future years.

Why has the bid to tap the land grant fund been superseded? First and
foremost, the oil boom. The huge one-time appropriation to create the fund
wouldn’t be possible without New Mexico’s unprecedented oil windfall, and
likely neither would its subsequent distributions from the state’s oil and
gas emergency school tax and revenue from federal mineral leases.

Another key reason is Sen. John Arthur Smith. The powerful chairman of the
Senate Finance Committee, whose command of all things money-related is
formidable, has been adamant for years about not touching the land grant
fund. Last year, he refused to put the proposal to a committee vote even
after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham advocated for it before the panel with
her 3-year-old granddaughter in tow.

Yet Smith is supportive of the new trust fund proposal — he even
co-sponsored the bill alongside Rep. Doreen Gallegos. That goes a long way
to getting political momentum, as does the fact that it’s one of Lujan
Grisham’s top priorities for the session, and other moderate Democrats and
Republicans back it, too.

“The reality is we’ve created a way to fund these programs, so HJR1 becomes
a moot point,” Pirtle said.

Supporters of the land grant proposal, such as co-sponsors Reps. Antonio
Maestas and Javier Martinez, have said they’ll keep pushing regardless of
what happens with the trust fund bill. And some proponents sharply
criticized the lawmakers who walked out Saturday.

“The opponents don’t even want to come and say why they’re against it,”
Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino said. “This is really a scandal that we won’t even
take a look at this.”

The other absent Democrats were Sens. Clemente Sanchez and Daniel
Ivey-Soto, while all Republicans on the panel were missing: Ingle, Pirtle,
Gregory Baca and Mark Moores.

Lopez, who supports the land grant proposal, said even if the bill dies
this year it could gain momentum again next year if the political
composition of the Senate changes and becomes more favorable to the idea
after November’s elections. If the bill were passed by the Legislature, it
would still need voter approval in a general election.

“I think the voters deserve a chance to make this decision,” Lopez said.
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