For the second straight day, the Senate had on its agenda a proposal to open conference committees and other legislative meetings to the public, but, as it did on Sunday, the Senate adjourned late this evening without considering the bill.
Senate Bill 737, sponsored by Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque, will appear on the Senate’s agenda again on Tuesday, but when the bill is brought up for debate is solely in the hands of Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen.
Two other bills that would open conference committees to the public — Feldman’s Senate Bill 150 and House Bill 393, sponsored by Rep. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces — have been languishing in the Senate Rules Committee. Because of that, Feldman used Senate Bill 737 and an unusual procedural move last week to force a Senate floor vote on the issue.
Feldman replaced what’s called a “dummy bill” — one that contains no actual legislation but can be replaced with a committee substitute after the deadline for new legislation passes — with a mirror of House Bill 393, which had already passed the House. The dummy bill had been assigned only to the Senate Public Affairs Committee, which Feldman chairs, and the committee quickly sent the replacement bill to the Senate floor.
Cervantes’ proposal has passed the House several times in the past, but the Senate has resisted opening conference committees. Twice in 2007 — the last time the conference committee proposal came before the Legislature — the Senate shot it down by one vote. Changes in the Senate’s makeup that resulted from last year’s election have many believing the bill will pass this year, if it can get to a Senate floor vote.
Many believe the Feldman and Cervantes bills have been stalled in the Rules Committee because opponents didn’t want to give the proposal that opportunity.
So, thanks to Feldman’s move, the proposal awaits a decision by Sanchez to bring it up for debate. The governor has supported opening conference committees to the public in the past.