The Roundhouse in Santa Fe (Photo by Heath Haussamen)
Early adjournment would save money, but some lawmakers say there’s too much important work to be done to quit before session’s scheduled end on March 19
With the talk of the legislative session thus far being its sluggish pace, some want to get on with passing a budget and a few other bills, and then adjourn early to save taxpayer dollars.
Among the supporters of such an idea are Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming and chair of the Senate Finance Committee, and Gov. Susana Martinez.
“It would save the state a ton of money,” Smith told NMPolitics.net on Wednesday. “It would certainly be the responsible thing to do.”
Martinez’s spokesman, Scott Darnell, said the governor is supportive of the idea – as long as legislation she’s pushing gets a fair hearing and a floor vote first.
“Passing a balanced budget that protects classroom spending and health care for those most in need is the highest priority, but we are also collectively charged with making important reforms to education, public safety and economic development,” Darnell said. “So long as these priorities receive a fair hearing and a floor vote, the governor certainly supports adjourning the session early to save taxpayers money.”
The 60-day session is costing taxpayers about $139,000 a day. Though far fewer bills have been introduced this session than in the last 60-day session in 2009, that doesn’t necessarily mean legislation is moving through the process more slowly than it has in the past.
But many have described the atmosphere in Santa Fe as one in which little is happening. The Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, in its daily newsletter on the session, has repeatedly pointed out that the House and Senate are meeting only for short periods each day.
From the Feb. 3 edition of the newsletter:
“The inactivity of the session seems a bit like a 30 day session where the only job is to pass a budget and go home. … most believe this session will continue to mosey along and eventually get a budget passed and a few other things passed and killed and call it a day.”
Fischmann: Other issues ‘deserve a fair hearing’
Lawmakers hold a 30-day session one year to focus on the budget and a 60-day session open to any issue the next. If lawmakers don’t focus on non-budgetary issues this session, it will be two years before they’re able to do it again without the governor’s consent. For that reason, many oppose going home before the session is scheduled to end on March 19.
“There are a ton of issues that have nothing to do with budget appropriations, and I think they deserve a fair hearing,” said Sen. Steve Fischmann, D-Las Cruces.
He said skipping discussions on important policy issues – such as transparency legislation he’s pushing and a controversial proposal to amend the state Constitution to define marriage – “disenfranchises all of those people who voted for their local legislator and are looking for that legislator to influence policy in the direction that they believe in.”
“We’ve got three branches of government, and we don’t need to be chopping one of them off at the knees,” Fischmann said.
Sen. Tim Keller, D-Albuquerque, agreed.
“If there’s one thing we learned in the ‘08 election and the 2010 election, it’s that people are very fed up with the status quo,” he said. “To change it, we’ve got to be up here working hard.”
“There are lots of ideas in the system, and the whole point of democracy is to discuss those ideas,” Keller said. “We should have the discussion. We can’t close the doors early and go home and say we’re not going to talk about things anymore in New Mexico.”
Taylor is skeptical about going home early
Smith said bills seeking tax increases the governor has promised to veto and funding increases for various programs are on hold because the committee he chairs has yet to see the proposed budget, which would give a more accurate picture of how the available money is going to be spent.
Anyway, he said, such bills are pointless because there’s no money to add to programs. Lawmakers are trying to plug a budget shortfall primarily with cuts because of the governor’s promise to veto revenue-raising legislation.
Smith said there are a couple of economic-development bills the Legislature should pass in addition to the budget before adjourning. He mentioned the proposed fuel tax exemption to convince Union Pacific Railroad to move its hub from El Paso to Santa Teresa.
He said it wouldn’t take lawmakers long to pass those bills and the budget if they buckle down.
But House Minority Leader Tom Taylor, R-Farmington, said there are “a number of important issues out there that we need to address” and the public expects lawmakers to do just that. He said he’s skeptical of the idea of adjourning early.
“I don’t think it’s absolutely impossible that we could be done a week early,” Taylor said. “At this point I would reserve saying, ‘yeah, we can go home early,’ but who knows?”
Nuñez: Stop wasting time and money
Rep. Andy Nuñez, an independent from Hatch, said the Legislature could do it all – pass the budget and other important legislation and go home early to save money – if lawmakers stopped wasting time. He said the House has started late and adjourned early every day thus far.
“We have done nothing here in the House except go through memorials and junk legislation,” he said. “That’s all we’ve done, and that’s a big waste of money.”
“We’re wasting a hell of a lot of time up here,” Nuñez said.