A group of House Democrats who are willing to cross party lines may end up deciding how the final hours of the legislative session play out today.
The House, including independent Democrats such as Joseph Cervantes of
Or they can do neither by voting against SB471 or letting the session end without taking any action on it. That would force lawmakers to return to their homes without any capital outlay.
It’s a difficult situation. Cervantes made that clear today in a quote he gave the Santa Fe New Mexican:
“It would be hard politically to vote to override the governor,” he said. “It would be hard to turn (against) the Senate.”
The independent Democrats can unite with the chamber’s Republicans and form the majority. They did it last year to force a compromise on housing authority reform. But there’s also the question of what House Republicans want to do. There’s a lot of political wrangling going on.
The new bill, SB471, moved quickly through two House committees on Wednesday evening and is ready to be considered by the full House. Meanwhile, there doesn’t appear to be momentum to override the veto of HB43, but anything could happen at this point.
The choice, however, is likely between giving Richardson SB471 or refusing to take sides and doing nothing.
Wirth, who voted against SB471 in a committee Wednesday evening, told the newspaper that the Legislature has “already sent a bill to the governor.”
House Democrats met in caucus this morning. The House and Senate are in session now. The next three hours will be interesting. Meanwhile, the Senate may consider today a health care bill, House Bill 147, according to the schedule released this morning. But it’s not the governor’s bill. It’s the Health Care Authority Act, sponsored by Rep. Danice Picraux, D-Albuquerque.
Stay tuned. I’ll be updating as news happens this morning.