Latest news with #Parajón
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill creating more open primary elections heads to governor's desk after narrow House victory
A bill that would allow some 330,000 unaffiliated voters in New Mexico to participate in primary elections without changing their voter registration to a major party is one step away from becoming law. Senate Bill 16 headed to the governor's desk Friday after squeaking by the House of Representatives on a 36-33 vote. Rep. Cristina Parajón, D-Albuquerque, said the measure seeks to increase voter turnout in the state's primary elections. Independent voters, or those who decline to state a party affiliation, would no longer have to jump 'through the hoops of same-day party registration' to participate in a primary, she said. 'On primary election day, such a voter can request a ballot for one of the parties holding a primary, so essentially what this bill does is it relieves the unnecessary burden on our county clerks,' she said. Under current law, unaffiliated voters can participate in primaries, but first they have to change their voter registration to a particular party, creating what proponents of the bill described as a bureaucratic hurdle and time-consuming task for election workers. SB 16 would eliminate the same-day registration requirement. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle questioned whether the bill would give one major political party an advantage over another. 'We often have a situation where one party has a close election and the other party doesn't,' said Rep. Matthew McQueen, D-Galisteo. 'Let's use 2020. The Republican nominee was President Trump, so not a lot of action going on there, so in that case, wouldn't a lot of conservative voters drift over to the Democratic primary and try to influence that primary even though they had no intention of ultimately voting for the winner of that primary?' 'It's certainly a possibility,' responded Parajón, adding the situation could already happen under current law with same-day registration. McQueen said the proposal would open the door to 'strategic voting.' 'A primary is a primary,' he said. 'It's a chance for Democrats to pick their candidate. It's a chance for Republicans to pick their candidate. It's a chance for Libertarians to pick their candidate. And we're muddying up that picture.' Rep. John Block, R-Alamogordo, said he keeps jumping off and on the fence on the bill. 'I think it actually might potentially benefit my party in this state,' he said. 'In districts that are really tight in Albuquerque that we've lost in many election cycles, I could see the potential for independent voters who do not like either party getting radicalized, so to speak, by either side to vote for the Republican candidate or the Democratic candidate in certain races.' Asked whether Republicans could benefit from the change in 'tight districts,' Parajón said other states with semi-open primaries, which she described as politically diverse, haven't had that experience. 'In fact, most states have completely open primaries where you just get a ballot and you pick who you want to pick; there's no affiliation,' she said. 'We are one of 10 states that has closed primaries.' Block ultimately ended up voting against the bill. So did Rep. Rod Montoya, R-Farmington, whose position was resolute. 'In the past I've looked at this, and I've made the philosophical decision that I think that each party should be able to pick their own candidates,' he said. Now, it's in the governor's hands.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NM House narrowly endorses open primaries for unaffiliated voters
A sign marks the limit to prevent campaign signs at a polling location during the June 4, 2024 primary in New Mexico. (Photo by Danielle Prokop / Source NM) The New Mexico House of Representatives by a small margin on Friday voted in favor of opening upcoming primary elections to all voters, even if they are not registered with a major political party. Co-sponsor Rep. Cristina Parajón (D-Albuquerque) defended the bill in a roughly two-hour debate Friday on the House floor, with fewer than 24 hours left in the session. She said opening primaries to unaffiliated voters will expand turnout and democratic buy-in from an increasingly disaffected voter base, particularly young people. Bill to allow independents to vote in primaries passes first committee As of December 2024, 340,000 New Mexico voters, roughly a quarter of all voters in the state, were not affiliated with any of the state's three major parties, which are Democrats, Republicans or Libertarians, according to the Secretary of State's Office. And 40% of New Mexico voters aged 18 to 24 are unaffiliated, Parajón said during the floor debate Friday . 'For me, this was about democracy and strengthening a democratic republic to involve more folks in the electoral process,' she said. The notion of letting unaffiliated voters cast ballots drew support and criticism from both Democrats and Republicans. Rep. Matthew McQueen (D-Galisteo) said he was concerned about the constitutionality of the law, particularly the First Amendment right to free association. Enacting the law would tell political parties, 'that under your bill, you have to allow people who are not members of that party to participate in your primary,' McQueen said. Rep. Stefani Lord (R-Sandia Park) opposed the bill because she said it would result in candidates that 'nobody wanted' winning primaries. But Republican Reps. John Block (R-Alamogordo) and Roger Montoya (R-Farmington) wondered aloud whether opening the primaries would help Republicans chip away at the Democrats' majority in the state Legislature, based on their senses of which party unaffiliated voters tend to lean toward. Block ultimately voted against the bill. Montoya joined 35 other representatives voting for it, he said, after changing his mind during the floor debate. He said opening primaries could make for more moderate candidates across the board and that it could shake up political races across the state to Republicans' benefit. 'I'm looking at this today and considering voting for this, because it's kind of a high-risk, high-reward poker stakes here,' he said. New Mexico is one of just 10 in the country that has closed primaries. Parajón said there's little evidence in other states of partisan voters 'raiding' the other party's primary to vote for extreme or unelectable candidates. The bill passed 36-33. It previously passed the Senate 27-11. It now heads to the governor's desk.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Prospects dim for proposed NM liquor tax increase after bill stalls in House committee
Mar. 10—SANTA FE — A proposal to curb problem drinking in New Mexico by increasing the state's liquor tax rate is facing long odds for approval during this year's 60-day legislative session. But backers say they're not giving up after a bill that would impose a new surtax on the sale of beer, wine and spirits stalled Monday in a House committee on a tie vote. Rep. Cristina Parajón, D-Albuquerque, one of the bill's sponsors, said after the vote she's committed to working on the issue. "We still have two weeks left in the session," she told the Journal, citing several other alcohol-related bills that are still pending at the Roundhouse. "There are other options for us still." One of the state's youngest legislators, Parajón also said younger New Mexicans are especially sensitive to pricing for products, saying higher alcohol prices would lead to a drop in drinking in that population. However, the New Mexico Restaurant Association and numerous local eateries had expressed opposition to House Bill 417, the proposed alcohol tax increase. Given that opposition, Parajón and other backers of the measure had sought to rework the bill in the lead-up to Monday's hearing in the House Taxation and Revenue Committee. Specifically, the new-look legislation would impose a 3% surtax on all alcoholic drinks sold and consumed on site, such as at a restaurant or brewery, while a 6% surtax would be imposed on all other alcohol sales. That surtax would be imposed on top of existing state and local liquor taxes. Critics of the approach said the revised bill could be difficult for retailers to implement and would contribute to rising consumer costs. They also questioned the need for tax increases at a time when New Mexico has been riding an ongoing revenue wave prompted by increased oil production. Two Democrats — Reps. Patricia Lundstrom of Gallup and Doreen Gallegos of Las Cruces — ultimately joined with the committee's Republican members on Monday in voting to block the measure from advancing. Lundstrom, the former chairwoman of the House budget committee, pointed out McKinley County already has a 5% local liquor excise tax and said it was unclear how much money the new proposal would generate. "I don't think a bill should be considered at this point if we don't know how much money it is going to raise," she said. This year's bill marks the latest attempt to raise New Mexico's alcohol tax rate in a state with one of the nation's highest drunken driving fatality rates. Under the proposal, the tax dollars raised by the tax hike would be split between a local alcohol treatment fund and a new tribal prevention fund. New Mexico's total number of alcohol-related deaths recently declined for two consecutive years, falling from 2,274 such deaths in 2021 to 1,896 alcohol-related deaths in 2023, according to state Department of Health data. However, New Mexico still had the nation's highest per capita rate of alcohol-related deaths in 2022, with 42.7 deaths per 100,000 people, per Kaiser Family Foundation data. University of New Mexico researchers this year projected a 25-cent per drink alcohol tax increase would reduce alcohol consumption by more than 1.7% and could generate $132 million in additional revenue. "This is one of the most important policies that we can do for public health," Parajón said, citing a similar tax enacted in Maryland in 2011 that has led to a decrease in alcohol consumption.
