This article has been updated.
Two New Mexico Senate committees will meet together this afternoon to discuss whether to grant domestic partner benefits in New Mexico and consider an alternative plan from a GOP lawmaker.
The good news for those who want to listen in but can’t travel to Santa Fe is that the joint meeting of the Judiciary and Public Affairs committees will be webcast by KUNM-FM. Jim Williams, the station’s news director, confirmed that audio of the hearing will be webcast.
The hearing is tentatively scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m., but the schedule in Santa Fe is so loose that the time could easily be moved. The committees will meet on the Senate floor sometime after the Senate concludes its daily session.
To listen online, click here.
Sen. Cisco McSorley, D-Albuquerque, is the primary sponsor of Senate Bill 12, which would grant unmarried couples in committed relationships the same rights given to married couples, including health insurance coverage and the authority to make medical decisions for each other.
The alternative bill that will also be heard today comes from Sen. Bill Sharer, R-Farmington. His Senate Bill 144 does not necessitate the committed relationship that McSorley’s bill requires to join into what Sharer calls a “household contract.” Sharer says it’s an attempt to give the same rights McSorley seeks without effectively recognizing same-sex marriage because it allows any two adults to enter into a contract that grants them such benefits.
The House has approved domestic partner benefits in the past, and the governor supports McSorley’s bill, but it has died in the Senate. With several new, more progressive members joining the Senate this year, McSorley and others are hopeful that it will pass.
Update, 2:50 p.m.
The hearing is going on now. Also, check out the New Mexico Independent’s live blog of the event by clicking here.