Latest news with #HouseBill143
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
OPINION: OPINION: Governor should sign lobbying transparency bill
Apr. 8—At this moment, special interest groups are trying to sway Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham one way or another as she contemplates signing bills from the 2025 legislative session into law. But we don't know which lobbyists are making plays as we approach the April 11 deadline. And that's a problem. Our state doesn't require organizations and lobbyists to disclose what particular bills they are working for or against. But one bill waiting for a signature, House Bill 143, would change that. The bill would require lobbyists to disclose which bills they worked on and their position. The public deserves to know how bills are made and who tried to influence them. Lujan Grisham should sign this common-sense bill to improve transparency and the public's trust in the legislative process. Lobbying isn't a problem. Lobbyists in the Roundhouse can be valuable resource because of their expertise and subject-matter knowledge. They are well organized and can shed light on any unintended consequences of legislation, and help humanize issues with testimony from affected parties. They can keep doing that work. This bill wouldn't restrict lobbying. Experts and interest groups should be able to voice their perspectives to lawmakers. But by operating in the shadows, their work creates distrust among voters and gives the appearance that lawmakers are serving special interests and government insiders instead of voters. Opponents of the measure say the bill would create bureaucratic red tape and steer experts away from participation. But the disclosure process could be streamlined with a simple online portal, and there's plenty of time to work out any glitches before the new rules begin in 2027. And the critics' argument also misses a crucial point: The status quo is a problem. in a 2022 report, compared lobbying disclosure trends across different states and ranked New Mexico near bottom. The bill shouldn't be politically controversial. Our neighboring liberal and conservative states have much better lobbying disclosure scores. OpenSecrets gave Colorado a score of 18 out of 20. Texas scored a 16.25. New Mexico, meanwhile, was scored at 8.25. The time is right for change. Sen. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, has been introducing similar bills for roughly 15 years. All the efforts stalled. But this year, New Mexico welcomed in a new crop of lawmakers. There were 28 new senators and representatives, along with changes in leadership and committees. The new lawmakers, which include the bill's other sponsor, Rep. Sarah Silva, D-Las Cruces, were able to avoid falling into a trap of: It's something we do because it's something we've done. At a time when the public trust in government is near the historic low, adding more transparency to the lawmaking process will only help reverse that trend. The cost of such disclosures is negligible. A fiscal impact report found HB143 would have a one-time cost of $60,000 to $65,000 to set up the reporting system, and then a paltry $11,000 annual cost to maintain the module. During her first campaign for governor, Lujan Grisham participated in a debate hosted by the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government. During her remarks, she said: "I spent my entire career fighting for transparency and open government, because I find all too often that government is closed, secret and unaccountable." She pledged that if elected she would usher in a "new culture of government openness." And because of the work of this year's Legislature, an opportunity for her to do just that is literally sitting on her desk.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Legislation creating statewide emergency communication system advances in Texas House
LUBBOCK — The Texas House gave initial approval Tuesday to a set of bills aimed at mitigating wildfire risks and improving the state's response to emergencies. The bills, filed by Ken King, R-Canadian, cover separate issues. However, both were filed in response to the devastating wildfires last year that engulfed the Texas Panhandle. More than 1 million acres burned, 15,000 head of cattle and three people died. House Bill 13 would create the Texas Interoperability Council, which would be tasked with creating and coordinating the implementation of a statewide plan for the use of emergency communication. The council would set up a network that connects all first responders and state agencies. They would also administer a grant program to help local governments purchase the equipment and construct the infrastructure needed to connect to that system. The Interoperability Council is one of the recommendations from the report by the House Investigative Committee, which King led last April. The initial cost is expected to be about $500 million. 'My goal is to ensure every first responder that puts their life on the line to battle these fires and other disasters have the tools to communicate effectively with those around them,' King said. King's second bill, House Bill 143, addresses one of the common causes for wildfires in the Texas Panhandle: unmaintained electrical lines for oilfield equipment. The House committee that investigated the wildfires last year concluded that unmaintained lines started at least two of the fires. This includes the Smokehouse Creek Fire, which became the largest fire in Texas history and ignited after a decayed power pole snapped and landed in dry grass, according to the report. [A year after Texas' largest wildfire, Panhandle residents tugged between hope and anxiety] King's bill would require the Texas Railroad Commission, which oversees the oil and gas industry, and the Public Utility Commission to notify electric utilities when the RRC identifies electrical hazards during inspection. The Panhandle lawmaker said the agencies developed a Memorandum of Understanding — a non-binding agreement — that allows them to work together. State Rep. Caroline Fairly, R-Amarillo, spoke in favor of the bill. Both lawmakers live in the Panhandle, where state data shows power lines have caused roughly 60% of wildfires since 2006. 'I'm thankful to the Texas House that we realize how important it is that we pass legislation that affects and protects rural areas from wildfires,' Fairly said. The House will take up the bills one more time before passing them to the Senate for consideration. The Legislature is also considering House Bill 2063 to create a database of firefighting equipment that is readily-available, and Senate Bill 34. That is a sweeping priority bill by state Sen. Kevin Sparks, R-Midland, that also includes increased funding for rural volunteer fire departments. Tickets are on sale now for the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas' breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin. Get tickets before May 1 and save big! TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Recent arrests of juveniles accused of murder rattle Roundhouse as session nears end
Mar. 20—SANTA FE — The recent arrests of juvenile suspects — including an 11-year-old boy — in connection with a 2024 hit-and-run homicide in Albuquerque have rattled the Roundhouse in the final days of this year's 60-day session. Several lawmakers cited the case Thursday in discussion of a youthful offender bill that critics say does not go far enough to address a recent increase in violent crime involving juveniles. "It's really disappointing to me this is all we could come up with," said Sen. Craig Brandt, R-Rio Rancho. "This can't be the answer." Even the bill's Senate sponsor, Democrat Antonio "Moe" Maestas of Albuquerque, acknowledged it had become a "political football" after a House committee added monthly stipends of up to $2,000 for former juvenile delinquents. Those stipends, which had been referred to as "homicide scholarships" by some GOP lawmakers, were stripped out of the bill late Wednesday by a Senate committee. During Thursday's debate in a different Senate committee, Maestas said he was only made aware of the stipends after they had been added to the bill. But he said the measure, House Bill 255, would still make improvements to the current juvenile code, including extending the length of probation for released underage defendants from 90 days to six months. "This gives more flexibility and strength to judges' discretion," Maestas said of the legislation, which still faces several more hurdles in order to make it to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's desk before the session ends Saturday. While the bill advanced to the Senate floor late Thursday, more sweeping proposals to crack down on juvenile crime have stalled during this year's 60-day session. That includes a bill backed by Bernalillo Country District Attorney Sam Bregman that would have expanded New Mexico's criminal code for violent juvenile offenders. That bill, House Bill 143, stalled in a House committee amid concerns about the rehabilitation of youthful defendants. However, supporters of such legislation have expressed alarm over a recent increase in juvenile crime in New Mexico, even as overall violent crime and property crime have decreased statewide. Specifically, a top deputy in the Bernalillo County District Attorney's Office recently told lawmakers there was a 57% increase in cases involving juvenile criminal defendants from 2022 to 2023. Those figures have taken on different dimensions this week, after Albuquerque police officers arrested three juveniles in connection with the May 2024 death of 63-year-old Scott Habermehl in Northeast Albuquerque. Habermehl was biking to work when he was struck by a stolen vehicle. The three boys arrested in the case allegedly recorded a cellphone video in which they discussed intentionally hitting Habermehl. An Albuquerque Police Department spokesman said this week the juveniles — a 16-year-old, 13-year-old and 11-year-old — were identified after detectives learned about the video, which had been posted to social media. The governor and Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller both condemned the incident, with Lujan Grisham saying lawmakers' refusal to seriously address juvenile crime during this year's session was "unacceptable." On the Senate floor later Wednesday, Sen. Nicole Tobiassen, R-Albuquerque, read the names of victims killed by juvenile offenders and asked colleagues to observe a moment of silence. That included Bennie Hargrove, whose 2021 death on the grounds of Albuquerque's Washington Middle School prompted lawmakers to approve a firearm storage law. "This is something we need to remember in this body as we're passing legislation," Tobiassen said.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
One signature away from becoming law, lobbyists worry over reporting bill
Mar. 20—SANTA FE — Some New Mexico lobbyists say a bill headed to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's desk is a targeted, logistical nightmare, but backers say more transparency from individuals who work to influence legislators is long overdue. Sitting on the governor's desk is legislation that would require lobbyists, or their employers, to file "lobbyist activity reports" disclosing stances on bills they're influencing, and, if positions change, to update their stances within 48 hours. The legislation, which has failed repeatedly to pass the Legislature in the past, surprised even the bill's sponsors in its passage of both chambers. Currently, lobbyists only need to publicly report who's employing them and money spent to benefit legislators for lobbying purposes. Bill sponsor Sen. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, described that as negligible, "next to nothing." So he's been working for years to pass additional reporting legislation, only to have it fail time and time again. He said transparency changes are some of the most difficult measures to pass in the Roundhouse, and this year's passage of House Bill 143 shows the uphill battle is worth it. "It's given me a hope that we can continue to fight for big things and fight for transparency and good government," Steinborn said. Who's at the table The Senate Tax, Business and Transportation Committee passed the bill over the weekend. Charlie Marquez, a contract lobbyist who doesn't support the legislation, said leadership initially said it would be rolled — at which point he left the committee — but ultimately heard it when the bill sponsor showed up. That was the last chance for public comment, as the bill went to the full Senate after that and then the full House again. "Lobbyists have a lot to bring to the table, and I think they should be at the table helping craft legislation like this," said J.D. Bullington, a big-name lobbyist of 28 years representing more than 20 clients this year. Both he and Marquez said nobody asked them for input on the bill. Steinborn said he didn't really confer with lobbyists when crafting the legislation, which he described as straightforward. "They never liked it, and they never wanted it," he said. Co-sponsor Rep. Sarah Silva, D-Las Cruces, said the lobbyists she reached out to either would only support the measure off the record or didn't respond. Silva also expected more of a fight getting it through the House floor again for concurrence, a process of agreement when the other chamber makes changes to a bill. But in about a minute on Wednesday evening, the House floor agreed to send the bill to the governor. It was different from the version the House sent over to the Senate, which Republicans amended to include restrictions on spending money on meals and beverages for legislators. The Senate stripped that out. Republicans voted against the bill in the House as well as the Senate. Silva said the last time the Legislature passed a major transparency bill — updating the Lobbyist Regulation Act — was six years ago. Lujan Grisham signed that measure, which gives her hope now. "I am just really excited that folks that can't make it to the Roundhouse (could) now have a better, more true picture of what happens here," she said, "because these are their bills, this is their Roundhouse, and they can't be here full time." While the bill sponsors said they haven't heard anything from the Governor's Office, they're relieved it's at least through the Legislature. Lujan Grisham has until April 11 to sign or veto the legislation. Red flags The bill has raised red flags for some lobbyists, who are concerned HB143 would worsen existing logistical issues and be overly burdensome. The lobbying activity for specific bills would be linked on the Legislature's website alongside the bills. Bullington said this has the potential to create a "logistical nightmare" for the Secretary of State's Office, where reports are filed, and the Legislative Council Service, which would have to update the Legislature website to post the filings alongside bills. The secretary of state's filing system is also incredibly difficult to navigate, according to Marquez, who said it took two months for him to get through the registration process this year because of a glitch in the system. Both lobbyists said they might support less burdensome filing requirements. Marquez said reporting should only be required once every 30 days in a session, and Bullington suggested filing one report at the end of the session. Steinborn said the filing will become second nature, and the bill doesn't go into effect, if signed, until 2027 so the Secretary of State's Office can work out all the technical kinks. "So no, it's not overly burdensome, or maybe even burdensome," he said. A legislative analysis of the bill describes it as a modernization effort that follows nationwide trends. Dick Mason, an unpaid lobbyist for the League of Women Voters, echoed the sentiment and said even still, many other states will have better transparency measures than New Mexico. "It's not a question of trust (for lobbyists). It's a question of putting the information out there," Mason said. Still, the measure could act as an impetus for now-disconcerted contracted lobbyists to form an organization of their own to lobby on their positions. "I think there's going to be more conversations about the professional lobbyists organizing a little more formally to better represent our profession," Bullington said.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NM Legislative Recap March 13: Lights… camera… gavel?
Rep. Sarah Silva (D-Las Cruces) outside her office in the New Mexico Legislature on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (Photo by Austin Fisher / Source NM) With 10 days left in the 2025 session, Rep. Sarah Silva (D-Las Cruces) announced Thursday morning that her proposal aimed at updating and strengthening New Mexico's press shield law is 'out of time.' To become law this session, House Bill 153 would need to survive a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives, and then make it through the entire committee process and another floor vote in the Senate before reaching Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's desk. 'House Republicans are dragging out debate on any bill that's even mildly controversial to the maximum of three hours,' Silva said in a statement. 'I assume they've been preparing for a chance to hit journalists and maximize the time a hearing on this bill would consume.' In an interview with Source NM on Thursday, Silva said what has stood out to her in the debates around HB153 is overall skepticism from lawmakers and the general public about whether journalists should have these protections, as well as the law's broad definition of a journalist. 'For me, this bill was not a referendum on whether you hate or love journalists,' she said. 'This bill is about protecting a critical piece of a healthy democracy, freedom of speech, and our ability to protect whistleblowers and the people who write on their behalf.' 'What surprised me was that it was a hard sell, and that's a little scary to me,' she added. Silva is married to journalist Heath Haussamen. Silva said she's still pursuing her other priority bill this session, and it 'has a real chance of passing': House Bill 143, which would bring more transparency to lobbying in the New Mexico Legislature. Sen. Jeff Steinborn, another Las Cruces Democrat, is co-sponsoring. The House passed HB143 on March 4, and the bill passed through its first Senate committee six days later. It still faces one Senate committee vote, one floor vote and then the concurrence process in the House by March 22 to have a chance with the governor's pen. Silva told Source NM this is as far as any transparency bills have made it in many years, though public support and opposition to the bill has been 'at least publicly quiet.' 'That tells me that there are probably forces at work that are going to try and stop it, but they're not going to make themselves known,' she said. Silva said she thinks HB143's momentum has to do with the amount of freshman lawmakers in both chambers, and an appetite for it among members of the public. 'When I talk about lobbyist transparency and political transparency here in the Roundhouse, that resonates across my district, from Chaparral to the East Mesa — very different types of communities both understand the importance of it,' she said. Speaking of Chaparral, Silva is making headway in securing funding for a new public safety facility in the unincorporated community of about 16,000 residents that straddles Otero and Doña Ana counties, in the southeastern part of the state. She said Otero County Sheriff David Black asked her to secure $10 million when she first started her campaign for office. Her neighbors told her about relatives who died or are permanently disabled because they had an emergency and the ambulance didn't reach them in time, or they lacked a sheriff's office substation at which to file a police report. Otero County has a volunteer fire station, but no paid firefighters for nearly 20,000 residents, Silva said. Doña Ana County has a paid fire department but still needs more staff, she said. Eighty percent of the animals kept at the Alamogordo animal shelter come from Chaparral, she said, where there is no animal control. 'I got bit by a dog on election day, because there's just packs of feral dogs running around Chaparral,' she said. Silva said she, Rep. John Block (R-Alamogordo) and Sen. James Townsend (R-Artesia) collectively secured $3 million in capital outlay funding for the facility. She secured another $1 million in the budget she's hoping the Senate will preserve, and she's asked Lujan Grisham for additional matching funds. Billy the Kid never gets old — except, maybe, on the silver screen. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, joined by actor and director Emilio Estevez, on Thursday announced the filming of 'Young Guns 3: Dead or Alive,' marking the third installment in a Western franchise based around the 1870s Lincoln County War. The first two films came out in 1988 and 1990 respectively. Estevez will reprise his role as Billy the Kid, the gunslinger and outlaw. The real Kid died at 21 shot by Lincoln County Sheriff Pat Garrett in 1881. 'The original 'Young Guns' films showcased New Mexico's stunning landscapes to the world and helped establish our state as a premier filming destination,' Lujan Grisham said in a statement. ''Young Guns 3: Dead or Alive' will add to this legacy, further solidifying New Mexico's place in the national film industry.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE The Senate passed Senate Bill 434, which would require public schools to provide high-impact tutoring to students with a mathematics or reading deficiency, and provide their parents with regular progress reports; Senate Bill 357, which would allow state funding to go to essential infrastructure in residential areas including broadband, energy, water and sewer; Senate Bill 364, which would allow people with work authorizations from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to work as police officers, Senate Bill 327, which would create a special 'lowrider capital of the world' license plate; and Senate Bill 42, which would move authority for caring for substance-exposed newborns from the Children, Youth and Families Department to the Department of Health. The Senate unanimously passed Senate Joint Memorial 3, which would direct the Higher Education Department to work with universities to create a bachelor's degree in elementary bilingual multicultural education; Senate Memorial 9, which would ask the Legislative Education Study Committee to convene a working group to study how to improve the Native American language certification program; and Senate Memorial 22, which would ask the Public Education Department to create a K-12 curriculum focused on water by the end of the year. The Senate was expected to meet again on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m., Senate Majority Floor Leader Peter Wirth (D-Santa Fe) said on the floor. The House of Representatives passed House Bill 518, which would pronounce the fourth Tuesday of January of odd-numbered years as 'Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Expansive Day'; House Bill 346, which would amend the Hemp Manufacturing Act to allow the New Mexico Environment Department to regulate hemp finished product sales; House Bill 219, which would require the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department to designate Slot Canyon Riverlands a state park and appropriate $9 million to the department for operating costs; House Bill 21, which would make amendments to the land-grant merced assistance fund; House Bill 182, which would enhance retirement benefits for district court judges, Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court judges, appellate court judges and Supreme Court justices; House Bill 183, which would enhance retirements benefits for magistrate court judges; House Bill 444, which would move authority over the New Mexico Athletic Commission to the Regulation and Licensing Department and adds members to the commission; House Bill 336, which would allow retired public employees to return to work with the state in public order or law enforcement areas; House Bill 131, which would enhance background checks for caregivers in the state; House Bill 433, which would require the Higher Education Department, in collaboration with the Public Education Department, Workforce Solutions Department and the Legislative Education Study Committee, to study career technical education courses and instructors; and House Bill 553, which would create the Timber Grading Act and allow the Forestry Division of the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department to create a grading system for structural timber. The Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee passed Senate Bill 430, which would redefine a 'neglected child' to no longer include children whose parents or guardians were unable to care for them solely due to their poverty. The Senate Conservation Committee passed House Bill 161, which would give veterans living in New Mexico passes for unlimited day use and camping in state parks; House Bill 175, which would add projects to create or maintain buffer zones around wildland and urban areas eligible for state funding; House Bill 191, which would create a $12 million post-wildfire fund and a second preparedness fund; House Bill 289, which would add $20 million in grants for developing geothermal energy; and House Bill 308, which would remove all irrigation conservancy districts from the Local Election Act, and require the districts to pay for the cost of elections. The Senate Judiciary Committee passed Senate Bill 225, which would increase criminal penalties for littering, graffiti and illegal dumping; Senate Bill 318, which would regulate firearms and destructive devices under consumer protection law; House Bill 5, which would create an independent Office of the Child Advocate attached to the New Mexico Department of Justice; House Bill 10, which would create a new police agency under the state's insurance regulator to enforce state cannabis laws; House Bill 66, which would increase the size of attorney fees that can be collected in workers' compensation cases; House Bill 251, which would allow retired educators to remove their spouse as the designated beneficiary and designate a new one; House Bill 252, which would help kinship caregivers navigate the legal system and provide other supports; and House Joint Resolution 2, which would ask voters to amend the New Mexico Constitution to take away the governor's pocket veto power. The Senate Finance Committee passed Senate Bill 375, which would allow early discharge for people who comply with probation and make other changes to parole; Senate Bill 383, which would allow the city of Roswell to levy a sales tax to pay for repairing infrastructure damaged by floods; House Bill 214, which would create a licensing process for doulas to enable Medicaid reimbursement; and Senate Bill 120, which would eliminate insurance costs for behavioral health care above the premium already paid for a health insurance policy. The House Transportation and Public Works Committee passed House Bill 580, which would create a specialty license plate supporting the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish's Share with Wildlife Program; House Memorial 38, which would ask the Department of Transportation to consider restoring the musical highway along Route 66; House Memorial 41, which would require the Department of Transportation to assess how long state train crossings are actually blocked by trains and and to work with rail providers to limit the blockings; House Memorial 50, which would request a rest stop be constructed at the entrance of the Trinity Site on US-380 in honor of downwinders impacted by the atomic bomb tests conducted in the 1940s; and Senate Bill 123, which would amend the Regional Transit District Act to allow districts to hire or contract with law enforcement officers or agencies for security. The House Agriculture, Acequias and Water Resources Committee passed Senate Bill 37, which would create the strategic water reserve fund to support the strategic water reserve; and Senate Bill 100, which would allow the Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority to raise indebtedness restrictions from $80 million to $120 million. The House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee advanced Senate Bill 83, the Innovation in State Government Fund, which appropriates $10 million for grants in seven state agencies to assist in lowering climate change by creating master plans and helping with technical assistance to other groups looking to apply for grant funding. 'I believe [state agencies] need to be equipped for the challenges of our climate changing, support clean energy development and protect our air, and water,' sponsor Senate Pro Tem Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque) told the committee. The bill now heads to its second committee, House Appropriations and Finance. The House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee also approved Senate Bill 9, which would double civil penalties for people who own or operate gas or oil pipeline facilities and violate federal regulations. SB9 now heads to the House Judiciary committee. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
