The Roundhouse in Santa Fe (Photo by Peter St. Cyr)
House members voted today to bring Rep. Andy Nuñez’s bill that would outlaw giving driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants to the House floor for consideration. The House will debate and vote on the bill Friday.
Nuñez was joined by the entire Republican caucus and Democrats Sandra Jeff and Dona Irwin in voting to have House Bill 78 bypass the committee process and be considered directly on the House floor. That came on two procedural motions that both passed 36-34.
The move breathes new life into a bill that had been tabled by Democrats on the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee.
House Bill 78 will be the first piece of legislation considered by the House on Friday. The House is scheduled to convene at 10 a.m.
Update, 9:05 p.m.
Gov. Susana Martinez had this to say:
“Today, Republicans, Democrats, and the House’s only Independent ensured that New Mexicans will get the up-or-down vote on a bill they have repeatedly demanded be passed. I applaud House members, especially the two Democrats, who courageously stood up to Speaker Ben Lujan and stood with New Mexicans who want this dangerous law repealed.”
House Democrats, meanwhile, sent out this news release:
For the first time in 50 years, the House of Representatives today voted to bring a bill directly to the House floor without first going through the committee process. That bill is House Bill 78 sponsored by Rep. Andy Nuñez (DTS-Hatch). Speaker of the House Ben Lujan (D-Santa Fe) has added the bill to tomorrow’s floor calendar for debate.
“Today we dealt with important issues. Not only did we deal with the policy merits of the Governor’s legislation, but our members also had serious reservations about circumventing the House committee process,” said Speaker Lujan. “We have committees and rules for a reason. Maybe those with strong political agendas can’t appreciate those reasons, but our committees are designed to give the public the opportunity to speak for or against a bill with their representatives,” Lujan added. “My interest throughout this entire process has been to do the right thing, and not to score political points,” concluded Lujan.
Several Democratic members also expressed concerns that the bill will now come to the House floor without having been vetted by the House Judiciary Committee to which the measure had been assigned.
“Even the bill’s sponsor (Rep. Nuñez) recognized during the bill’s first committee hearing that there are serious constitutional questions at play here,” said Rep. Al Park (D-Albuquerque).
“Now that the bill comes directly to the House floor, we have denied the public their right to speak with us on these issues,” said Speaker Lujan.
Rep. Miguel P. Garcia (D-Albuquerque) also expressed concern over what he called the “willingness of the Governor to insert herself as a lobbyist into the legislative process.”
While the House debate became heated at times, several Republican members including members of the Republican leadership complimented the Speaker’s commitment to following the rules of the House in presiding over today’s debate.