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This is, somehow, the 16th legislative session that I’ve covered here in New Mexico. My first was way back with the New Mexico Independent in 2008, the first online non-profit news outlet in New Mexico.

One thing that you learn pretty quickly is that the legislative session starts with a ton of pomp and circumstance with the State of the State, then pretty much… stops. Legislative staff have to print out all the bills that legislators introduce. Analysts have to, well, analyze the bills for their fiscal impact. 

All of this is to say: The House and Senate will not be in on Friday and will return on Monday.

The most recent House committee schedule is available here and the Senate committee schedule is available here. Both links are pdf files.

One thing to note: The repetitively named Senate Committees’ Committee meets to discuss whether bills are germane to things approved by the governor and so can be discussed; non-budget bills must fit in topics approved by the governor to be discussed.

-Matthew Reichbach

Our stories

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham went into further detail about her literacy plan that she highlighted in her State of the State address Tuesday.

Lujan Grisham announced her plan to improve literacy in New Mexico by developing a literacy institute at a press conference Thursday.

“We want $60 million, that’s new $30 million for a building— and I think I’m gonna give them a good case for the building— and $30 million to embed all of that structured literacy— science of reading education, individual tutoring— with at least 10,000 students every year,” Lujan Grisham said.

Read the rest of the story by Nicole Maxwell here

A legislator will introduce a bill that would prohibit New Mexico public entities from entering into contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for immigrant detention.

The Dignity Not Detention bill, which will be sponsored by state Sen. Katy Duhigg, D-Albuquerque, will restrict local governments from entering into intergovernmental agreements with the federal government. Duhigg told NM Political Report that if local governments cannot use intergovernmental agreements, the bill, if enacted, would mean local governments would have to go through a normal procurement process. 

“The effect of that is, it wouldn’t be worth their while to do so,” Duhigg said.

Read the rest of the story by Susan Dunlap here

Digital driver’s licenses

The state Motor Vehicle Division is behind a bill that would allow for the creation of digital driver’s licenses and identification cards.

MVD, which is part of the state Taxation and Revenue Department, announced its support on Thursday.

“We’re really excited about the prospect of being able to offer customers a new, convenient and secure means of identification,” TRD Secretary Stephanie Schardin Clarke said in the statement.  

State Sen. Bobby Gonzales, D-Ranchos de Taos, is the sponsor of the bill, SB 88.

Currently, MVD said in the release, law enforcement agencies in the state do not accept electronic credentials, “but are expected to adopt the necessary technology to do so as the credentials become more widely available. Customers will still need to carry their physical credentials.”

-Matthew Reichbach

Impeachment effort

Two Republican members on the far-right of their party’s House caucus launched an impeachment effort against Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham earlier this week. John Block of Alamogordo and Stefani Lord of Sandia Park filed the articles of impeachment, saying that a public health order by Lujan Grisham that banned guns from public places in Bernalillo County was a violation of constitutional rights.

The impeachment effort is unlikely to go anywhere. It would take the majority of the full House to vote to impeach the governor, and the majority of the chamber are, like Lujan Grisham, Democrats.

In previous impeachment efforts, a subcommittee of the House Rules and Order of Business Committee looked into whether an impeachment was valid. 

The last time this occurred was when legislators discussed the impeachment of Dianna Duran, the then-Secretary of State who was convicted of a number of campaign finance crimes. Duran resigned before the impeachment effort could continue.

Two other impeachment efforts, that of then-State Treasurer Robert Vigil and then-Public Regulations Commissioner Jerome Block Jr. also ended with the resignation of those officials before the articles of impeachment could be brought to the floor.

-Matthew Reichbach

Utility regulation

It has been one year since the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission transitioned from an elected body of five commissioners to an appointed body consisting of three commissioners. PRC staff presented to the House Appropriations and Finance Committee about the agency’s spending, including expanding capacity and modernizing the agency, including updating technology.

The staff also spoke about various efforts that are underway, including the workshops that the commissioners are hosting in an attempt to be proactive rather than waiting for utilities to file applications.

One such workshop will occur next Thursday and focuses on what is known as a regional transmission organization, or an RTO. These organizations are formed to better distribute power across multiple utilities. Currently, only one of the three investor-owned utilities participates in an RTO.

Commissioner James Ellison is also leading an effort to set reliability standards for New Mexico utilities.

-Hannah Grover

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