The Roundhouse in Santa Fe (Photo by Peter St. Cyr)
“Redistricting, with a side of controversy.”
That’s how The Santa Fe New Mexican describes the special session of the Legislature that begins today.
Lawmakers are tasked with redrawing political boundaries for state legislative seats, the Public Regulation and Public Education commissions, and the state’s three seats in the U.S. House of Representatives based on the 2010 Census numbers. But Gov. Susana Martinez wants them to tackle several other issues as well – and there’s disagreement about whether that’s a good idea.
“A handful of legislators will begin to work on redistricting. I will tell you from stories I’ve heard from past redistricting, people are not in their offices working while that handful are doing the job,” Martinez was quoted by The New Mexican as saying. She uses that argument to say lawmakers have time to consider other bills.
Senate President Pro Tem Tim Jennings, D-Roswell, says Martinez doesn’t know what she’s talking about.
“I’ve been through redistricting four times. To tell the public that nobody’s doing anything is a little bit absurd,” The New Mexican quoted Jennings as saying. “She’s never been through one. What does she know?”
The New Mexican detailed some of the other items on Martinez’s agenda:
“In addition to the required redistricting work, Martinez has demanded that lawmakers overturn a 2003 law that allows New Mexico to issue driver’s licenses to noncitizens, which has provoked the show of force Tuesday from immigrant-rights activists.
“The governor also wants the Legislature to end social promotion of third-graders who lack sufficient reading proficiency and to give local authorities the power to ban fireworks.
“Another potentially explosive item might join the already-packed agenda: Consolidation of state government agencies in an effort to save money, including the merger of the Cultural Affairs and Tourism departments, a governor’s spokesman said Friday.”
You can learn more about Martinez’s agenda from a commentary she authored that ran this weekend in the Albuquerque Journal.
Of course, redistricting may just end up in court once again, as The New Mexican wrote in another article.
Impeachment will likely wait
Then there’s the issue of the impeachment of PRC member Jerome Block Jr. It will come up during the special session. But that doesn’t mean impeachment will play itself out during the special session.
One possible scenario is that the Legislature will consider Block’s impeachment during the special session. But the more likely scenario is that lawmakers will vote during the special session to bring themselves back for an extraordinary session as early as October to focus only on Block’s impeachment.
After all, if lawmakers are already saying there’s too much on their plate during a session with an agenda set by the governor, why would they add another major task? That’s one reason some say the Legislature should bring itself back in October.
The other reason: The House is given sole authority to initiate impeachment proceedings, so some say impeachment hearings should be held during a session called by lawmakers, not the governor.
Anyway, you can learn more about redistricting here. The Legislature’s home page is here, and webcasting of floor and committee sessions is here.