While you were sleeping: Here's what the NM Legislature did last night
Debate stretched into the evening Wednesday night at the Roundhouse, and New Mexico legislative committees convened into the wee hours of Thursday. Here's what happened if you had other plans (like sleeping).
After hitting the three-hour rule of debate adopted in the lower chamber's rules, the House passed House Bill 450 along party lines after House Republicans revolted against a late-addition of a $10 million dollar proposed reproductive health clinic in Northern New Mexico. HB 450 contains $1.2 billion for capital outlay projects across the state, including$600 million in a general fund revenue split between local projects prioritized by House and Senate members and the governor, according to the analysis on the bill.
Capital outlay now heads to the Senate side, which has a packed schedule Thursday including the possible tackle of a hefty tax package House Bill 14, which includes a new tax on the sale of oil and gas.
The House also passed a bill earmarking $210 million for communities to respond and mitigate the impacts of climate change, carried by House Majority Floor Leader Reena Szczepanski (D-Santa Fe) and Sen Pro Tem Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque). Read our previous coverage here.
Senate Bill 48, passed along a party line vote after hours of debate, and now heads to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's desk for approval. Lawmakers rejected three amendments proposed by Republicans on the floor.
The House unanimously passed Senate Bill 41, which creates a system to send out statewide alerts when Indigenous people go missing. SB41 heads back to the Senate for concurrence — meaning that body will have to approve changes made by the House Judiciary committee. If passed, it will head to the fourth floor for the governor's consideration.
House Judiciary, which convened at 10 p.m. and broke up just after 12:30 a.m., passed Senate Bill 16, which would allow 'decline to state' voters —aka independents— the ability to participate in primaries without changing their voter registrations, sending the bill to the House floor.
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