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	<title>Bill O’Neill &#8211; NMPolitics.net</title>
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	<description>The real story</description>
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		<title>Urging both sides to compromise on driver’s license issue</title>
		<link>https://nmpolitics.net/index/2012/01/urging-both-sides-to-compromise-on-driver%e2%80%99s-license-issue/</link>
					<comments>https://nmpolitics.net/index/2012/01/urging-both-sides-to-compromise-on-driver%e2%80%99s-license-issue/#comments</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Bill O’Neill]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:18:12 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Guest columns]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Border and immigration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.nmpolitics.net/index/?p=35870</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[We obviously have a major problem with people taking advantage of this progressive and well-intended law. It is a problem of fraud, and it needs to be acknowledged and solved.]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_35871"  class="wp-caption module image alignright" style="max-width: 120px;"><img decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-35871" title="O'Neill, Bill" src="http://www.nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/ONeill-Bill.jpeg?x36058" alt="Bill O'Neill" width="120" height="160" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Bill O&#39;Neill</p></div>
<h4>We obviously have a major problem with people taking advantage of this progressive and well-intended law. It is a problem of fraud, and it needs to be acknowledged and solved.</h4>
<p>Once again I find myself in the middle of one of our most contentious issues: what to do about the 2003 law that permits the issuing of driver’s licenses to foreign nationals who cannot verify their legal status in New Mexico. Once again I am struck by how the debate dominates local television, newspapers, opinion pages – and of course, the governor’s current legislative agenda.</p>
<p>First of all, I would like to point out that I was not in the state Legislature in 2003. This is an issue that I have approached with a fairly objective mindset, having no part in the legislation’s origin. I believe that even the fiercest opponents would concede that the law’s public safety intent was legitimate: to provide the ability for foreign nationals to attain car insurance, and in the process reduce one of the nation’s highest uninsured motorist rates, as well as make sure that these same individuals were in a data bank that could be used by law enforcement officials when warranted.</p>
<p>But we obviously have a major problem with people taking advantage of this progressive and well-intended law, as documented in various media accounts and, most importantly to me, through first-hand anecdotes from my District 15 constituents. Individuals can come to New Mexico to attain these licenses under fraudulent means, and then leave the state, or traffic in these bogus documents, and so on.</p>
<p>It is a problem of fraud, and it needs to be acknowledged and solved.</p>
<h3>New Mexicans want this problem solved</h3>
<p>Last week, I introduced <a href="http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/_session.aspx?chamber=H&amp;legtype=B&amp;legno=%20171&amp;year=12" target="_blank">House Bill 171</a>, which repeals the 2003 law and substitutes instead a provisional license for these same foreign nationals who do not have a social security number. With this license they can still secure car insurance and lawfully drive themselves to work, or to church, or to school to pick up their children. The provision license cannot, however, be used to travel outside of New Mexico. This license would have no validity outside of our state borders.<span id="more-35870"></span></p>
<p>Thus, the fraud problem is immediately solved: People would not come to New Mexico to attain a license that would have no validity in other states. At the same time, the sensible policy of having these individuals insured on our highways would be preserved.</p>
<p>Let us now talk politics, as this is really how the issue is playing out. A variation of this same provisional license approach has been introduced over the past two sessions by three of my House Republican colleagues, who, like many of us here, want simply to solve this problem and move on the many other important issues facing New Mexico.</p>
<p>I find it curious that Governor <a href="http://governor.state.nm.us/" target="_blank">Susana Martinez</a> adamantly opposes the provisional license approach and has promised to veto such a compromise. She is often quoted as saying that “74 percent of New Mexicans support my bill to repeal the current license law.” I would suggest that she is wrong, that 74 percent of New Mexicans want this problem solved, effectively and immediately, and that they are leaving the specifics of that up to us, the legislators and the executive branch.</p>
<h3>Where are we without compromise?</h3>
<p>Over the past several months, I have had the opportunity to walk my district, to address neighborhood meetings, and answer e-mails and phone calls. When I explain my opposition to the severely flawed, Arizona-style Martinez solution to this problem, my overriding sense is that your average voter understands that I, as a legislator, can only vote on the specifics of the bill in front of me. The details matter, and ultimately I am forced to vote on the text of a bill rather than its intent.</p>
<p>The Martinez-backed bill, <a href="http://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/12%20Regular/bills/house/HB0103.pdf" target="_blank">House Bill 103</a>, sponsored by State Rep. <a href="http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/legdetails.aspx?SPONCODE=HNUNE" target="_blank">Andy Nuñez</a>, is bad legislation. First of all, it completely ignores the problem that we are trying to solve – what to do about the roughly 85,000 foreign nationals in our state who would not qualify for any kind of legitimate driving privileges under the criteria it proposes. In addition, it remains an open question whether it would in fact bring us into compliance with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REAL_ID_Act" target="_blank">Real ID Act</a>, which only a handful of states have chosen to pursue. It does not acknowledge that a driver’s license is not an invitation to citizenship – rather, it is an obligation that we insist upon as a community for our own public safety reasons.</p>
<p>In fairness, in the absence of federal leadership on the illegal immigration issue, states like New Mexico are forced to come up with their own solutions. In that light, my HB 171 is very close to the provisional license bill that was recently implemented in Utah.</p>
<p>I also believe that the governor is sincere in her belief that her approach is the best way to solve the problem. But I am troubled by the complete absence of any willingness on her end to compromise on this important issue. Where are we, in terms of being able to govern effectively, without compromise?</p>
<p>Our constituents do not want issues like these used for political gain. Such a route requires at least some degree of willingness to engage in meaningful dialogue, which means that people on both sides have to make concessions, in the interest of resolving the problem at hand.</p>
<p>I urge both sides – immigrant rights activists as well as Republican opponents – to be willing to tackle the problem with true compromise in the interest of good public policy for all New Mexicans.</p>
<p><em> <a href="http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/legdetails.aspx?SPONCODE=HONEI" target="_blank">O’Neill</a>, a Democrat, represents the Albuquerque-area District 15 in the N.M. House of Representatives.</em></p>
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		<title>Bipartisanship: rhetoric vs. reality</title>
		<link>https://nmpolitics.net/index/2011/07/bipartisanship-rhetoric-vs-reality/</link>
					<comments>https://nmpolitics.net/index/2011/07/bipartisanship-rhetoric-vs-reality/#comments</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Bill O’Neill]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 25 Jul 2011 19:16:34 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Guest columns]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Roundhouse]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.nmpolitics.net/index/?p=30643</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[In the coming special session, the governor can continue to build a wedge issue for the next election, or she can exhibit a willingness to compromise on the issue of drivers’ licenses and place responsibility on legislators from both parties to respond in kind.]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_29740"  class="wp-caption module image alignright" style="max-width: 270px;"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-29740 " title="Roundhouse" src="http://www.nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Roundhouse.jpeg?x36058" alt="" width="270" height="203" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The Roundhouse in Santa Fe (Photo by Heath Haussamen)</p></div>
<p>Before I became involved in state politics, I was a registered Independent. I grew up in a Republican household, and the kinds of political divisions that we know so well play out in my own family. Wonderful, spirited discussions happen whenever we get together, and respectful dialogue was encouraged by my parents when we were growing up.</p>
<p>It is something deep in my being that expects the same kind of healthy debate in Santa Fe, doing what is expected of us as legislators.</p>
<p>I provide this kind of detail because I hear the word “bipartisan” invoked repeatedly these days: I even do it myself at neighborhood meetings. And on the national level it would seem more important than ever as the debt-ceiling looms. But how real is this bi-partisanship language of ours? Is it even possible when you are either pro-choice or pro-life; pro-health care reform or against; pro-domestic partnership or against?</p>
<p>The divisive list goes on, as we have to sadly acknowledge. I have a friend who insists that the “middle” has entirely vanished, that the days of conciliatory political agreements are gone.</p>
<p>When the governor spoke at an <a href="http://www.naiopnm.org/" target="_blank">Albuquerque NAIOP</a> meeting that I attended, I was heartened to hear her talk about bipartisanship. She gave less-than-convincing examples of her bipartisan efforts from our then recently concluded legislative session, which I admit is colored by my own partisan affiliation. But I was encouraged by the spirit of her remarks, and by the fact that she valued the subject enough to make it a major part of her speech.</p>
<div id="attachment_30644"  class="wp-caption module image alignright" style="max-width: 120px;"><img decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-30644" title="O'Neill, Bill" src="http://www.nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/ONeill-Bill.jpg?x36058" alt="" width="120" height="160" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Bill O&#39;Neill</p></div>
<h3>Can we find compromise on drivers’ licenses?</h3>
<p>The simple definition of compromise in Webster’s New World Pocket Dictionary is a “settlement made with concessions.” Certainly this applies to the legislative process.</p>
<p>We have now learned that the governor is considering placing the drivers’ license issue before us once again at our upcoming special re-districting session. I am probably in the minority on my side of the aisle, but this could present an opportunity to finally resolve the issue, depending on whether the governor is serious about realistic governance and bipartisanship. It could also help silence those critics who say that she is more interested in campaigning than governing.</p>
<p>How could she do this? By exhibiting a willingness to address the public safety concerns about having unlicensed, uninsured motorists on our highways, which was the purpose of the 2003 law in the first place. Drivers’ licenses are not, and never have been, designed to be documents proving citizenship. Instead, they are meant to protect citizens from untrained, uninsured motorists. They also provide law enforcement the means to identify motorists and to keep track of their driving records, and to encourage drivers to stay at the scene of accidents rather than fleeing.</p>
<p>These are legitimate public safety concerns and deserve serious debate and consideration.<span id="more-30643"></span></p>
<h3>A fork in the road</h3>
<p>As a state legislator directly involved in the progress of several different bills on the drivers’ license issue this past session, including my own, I found it curious that the Governor’s Office did not appear to be interested in any “provisional license” approach to this emotional issue. Of course, provisional licenses present their own set of problems, but why was this not at least part of the discussion driven by the governor this past session?</p>
<p>Come September, the message could be clear for the rest of her term: The governor can continue to use the Nuñez bill as a campaign tool, building a wedge issue for the next election, or she can exhibit her willingness to consider other options, and in so doing place responsibility on legislators from both parties to respond in kind.</p>
<p>If the governor insists on placing this issue before the special session, then the conversation and process to find a reasonable solution should begin now. Without compromise, the disturbing problem of fraud in the issuing of drivers’ licenses will remain largely unresolved.</p>
<p>It would seem to be a fork in the road – at least for this state lawmaker.</p>
<p><em><a href="http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/legdetails.aspx?SPONCODE=HONEI" target="_blank">O’Neill</a>, a Democrat, represents District 15 in the New Mexico House.</em></p>
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		<title>Pension reform is the right thing to do</title>
		<link>https://nmpolitics.net/index/2011/03/pension-reform-is-the-right-thing-to-do/</link>
					<comments>https://nmpolitics.net/index/2011/03/pension-reform-is-the-right-thing-to-do/#comments</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Bill O’Neill]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 25 Mar 2011 15:48:37 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Guest columns]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Roundhouse]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.nmpolitics.net/index/?p=27701</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[One of the more difficult votes during the recently concluded legislative session was on Rep. Mimi Stewart’s attempt to address projected shortfalls in the PERA and ERB retirement funds – shortfalls that could potentially exceed $15 billion by 2016.]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_11833"  class="wp-caption module image alignright" style="max-width: 270px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-11833 " title="Roundhouse2010" src="http://www.nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Roundhouse2010-300x246.jpg?x36058" alt="" width="270" height="221" srcset="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Roundhouse2010-300x246.jpg 300w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Roundhouse2010.jpg 325w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 270px) 100vw, 270px" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The Roundhouse in Santa Fe (Photo by Peter St. Cyr)</p></div>
<p>One of the more difficult votes during the recently concluded legislative session was on <a href="http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/_session.aspx?Chamber=H&amp;LegType=B&amp;LegNo=644&amp;year=11" target="_blank">House Bill 644</a>, Rep. <a href="http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/legdetails.aspx?SPONCODE=HSTEW" target="_blank">Mimi Stewart’s</a> attempt to <a href="http://www.nmpolitics.net/index/2011/03/house-oks-bill-changing-retirement-plans/" target="_blank">address projected shortfalls</a> in the PERA (public employee) and ERB (educational worker) retirement funds – shortfalls that could potentially exceed $15 billion by 2016.</p>
<p>The bill failed the first time it came before the full house for a vote, by a margin of 10 votes or so. I voted against it, as did many of my colleagues, both Democrat and Republican.</p>
<p>The wide variety of issues that come our way as legislators sometimes makes it difficult to be fully informed on all of the nuances and implications of every bill. On one hand public employee union representatives said that things were not all that dire, and that extreme measures were not warranted at this point in time.</p>
<p>On the other hand, Representative Stewart and others made a compelling case on the House floor that this was the responsible action to take, and that the whole intent was to ensure the long-term solvency of these vital funds – to make sure that there was a viable pension fund for new hires.</p>
<p>Ultimately, I opted for the “why do this if we do not have to?” line of reasoning.</p>
<div id="attachment_27702"  class="wp-caption module image alignright" style="max-width: 120px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-27702" title="O'Neill, Bill" src="http://www.nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/ONeill-Bill.jpeg?x36058" alt="" width="120" height="160" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Bill O&#39;Neill</p></div>
<h3>Uneasy about my vote</h3>
<p>But in the vote’s aftermath, I was uneasy about my vote. Had I shirked my duty to choose the most responsible course? Representative Stewart, a former teacher herself and longtime supporter of public employees, had chaired the Solvency Task Force for a full two years and had come to this conclusion, so did not her expertise in and deep concern for this subject merit respect?</p>
<p>And what of the increasingly ferocious personal attacks levied against her by the opponents of this bill, making her out to be devious, or misinformed? Why would someone of Representative Stewart’s demonstrated commitment and experience come to the conclusion she had?</p>
<p>I soon discovered that other legislators, on both sides of the aisle, were similarly disturbed by their vote on HB 644. There are issues that are more complicated, that take more time to absorb. I would suggest that pension reform is one of those issues.</p>
<p>In the House of Representatives we have a parliamentary procedure called a “reconsideration.” In such a case, a member of those who voted in the majority can move to bring that bill up again for an immediate re-vote. This is what transpired with HB 644, a couple of days after the original House vote. This time it passed by five votes, including my own, again with solid bi-partisan support.</p>
<h3>Rep. Stewart is to be commended</h3>
<p><span id="more-27701"></span></p>
<p>HB 644 represents very modest changes in the retirement benefits of non-uniformed PERA and ERB members with less than five years of service credit – those who are not yet vested in the system. It raises the minimum retirement age from 43 to 55, and it also ties cost of living increases for PERA retirees at age 65 to the actual rate of inflation, rather than a flat 3 percent.</p>
<p>The legislation has no impact on firefighters, police officers, those employees who have worked over five years or those former employees currently drawing a pension. If implemented, it would essentially solve the current crisis with the PERA and ERB pension funds.</p>
<p>As it turns out, HB 644 did not advance in the Senate after its passage in the House, and so nothing happened. Clearly, though, we will need to address this issue in an upcoming legislative session, in order to preserve the integrity and viability of our public retirement system.</p>
<p>Representative Stewart is to be commended for tackling this issue, and I hope that everyone – including our thousands of dedicated teachers and public employees – will be able to work together to meet this important challenge.</p>
<p><em><a href="http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/legdetails.aspx?SPONCODE=HONEI" target="_blank">O’Neill</a>, a Democrat, represents District 15 in the New Mexico House.</em></p>
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		<title>More to House Bill 78 than meets the eye</title>
		<link>https://nmpolitics.net/index/2011/03/more-to-house-bill-78-than-meets-the-eye/</link>
					<comments>https://nmpolitics.net/index/2011/03/more-to-house-bill-78-than-meets-the-eye/#comments</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Bill O’Neill]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 Mar 2011 22:31:17 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Guest columns]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Roundhouse]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.nmpolitics.net/index/?p=27054</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[The good news here in New Mexico is that there is still time enough in our legislative session for both parties (and the lone DTS) to come together and send a smart and effective driver’s license bill to Governor Martinez to sign.]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_27055"  class="wp-caption module image alignright" style="max-width: 120px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-27055" title="O'Neill, Bill" src="http://www.nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/ONeill-Bill.jpg?x36058" alt="" width="120" height="160" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Bill O&#39;Neill</p></div>
<p>It has been an intense week in the House chamber of our state Legislature – razor-thin voting margins, unprecedented parliamentary procedures, three calls of the House for three consecutive days.</p>
<p>At the heart of last week’s events was the politically and emotionally-charged issue of issuing driver’s licenses to foreign nationals. It is an issue that has been brewing ever since Governor Martinez began campaigning for office.</p>
<p>I heard many voters voice similar concern during my re-election campaign. I am as concerned as anyone about New Mexico being a staging ground for illegal immigration. The stories I have heard from my constituents, read in the paper, and watched on the news are chilling.</p>
<p>That is why I introduced <a href="http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/_session.aspx?Chamber=H&amp;LegType=B&amp;LegNo=346&amp;year=11" target="_blank">House Bill 346</a> to help curb criminals using our existing licensing requirements to commit fraud. It was one of three that was discussed and deliberated during a proper House committee hearing. It was ultimately tabled due to textual issues within the bill, as were the other two bills.</p>
<p>I was confident that I would be able to revisit my bill, address the issues brought forth in committee and present a stronger bill that would withstand scrutiny from the House, Senate and governor. Unfortunately, I never got that chance. A rare procedural move “blasted” one of the other two tabled bills onto the House floor, where lengthy discussion ensued.</p>
<h3>Voting with my convictions</h3>
<p>Our floor debate on this issue was respectfully heated on both sides, but parliamentary maneuvering by both parties made the process increasingly frustrating. I had major problems with some of the specifics of my colleague Representative Nuñez’s <a href="http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/_session.aspx?Chamber=H&amp;LegType=B&amp;LegNo=78&amp;year=11" target="_blank">House Bill 78</a>, and like many of my colleagues, I welcomed the opportunity to discuss those concerns.<span id="more-27054"></span>My name was on the board to speak on the specifics of the bill for hours, but time ran out before I got the chance, and the vote was called.</p>
<p>If I had been given the opportunity to directly engage my colleague on the floor, I would have asked him his reasoning for voting for the original 2003 legislation that he now wanted to entirely reverse. What about the public safety issue – has that magically gone away in eight years, the reason that I presume you voted for the 2003 bill?</p>
<p>What of the notion of having uninsured and undocumented foreign nationals driving their children to school, driving themselves to work – in short, being unleashed on our highways without the ability to attain insurance?</p>
<p>I was not given an opportunity to have that discourse, and had to make the decision after over six hours of deliberation. I voted with my convictions. I made what I felt was a hard, responsible decision.</p>
<h3>A seriously flawed bill</h3>
<p>The heart of the matter was that House Bill 78 was well-intentioned to be sure, but seriously flawed. For example, if HB 78 were to pass, the husbands, wives and children of many of our state’s foreign-born engineers at our various national labs would be at immediate risk of being deported.</p>
<p>HB 78 would also add a burden for all our senior citizens. New Mexico residents over 65 who wish to exchange their driver’s license for an ID card would be lumped into the same category as “illegal immigrants” and would have to go through the same bureaucratic steps to prove their legitimate residency.</p>
<p>The administrative cost of HB 78 remains unknown, and it still does not place us in full compliance with the Real ID Act of 2005.</p>
<p>On that day I did vote for a floor amendment proposed that I felt was far superior to HB 78. It narrowly failed in a 36-34 vote. Offered as bi-partisan compromise by Democratic Floor Leader Ken Martinez, D-Grants, it incorporated elements from several driver’s license bills introduced this session, including my own HB 346 and Republican Bill Rehm’s <a href="http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/_session.aspx?Chamber=H&amp;LegType=B&amp;LegNo=261&amp;year=11">HB 261</a>.</p>
<p>This compromise bill would have revoked falsely issued driver’s licenses. It would also have made it a third-degree felony for an MVD employee to issue a fraudulent license, and it would mandate a two-year expiration for any license issued to a foreign national.</p>
<h3>The good news</h3>
<p>I have born a great deal of criticism as a result of my vote. It is somehow assumed that I embrace the status quo and that I do not feel a legislative remedy is warranted. I have received many e-mails and letters from impassioned constituents questioning my vote and political stance.</p>
<p>I do not take lightly any input from my constituents. However, I am committed to the safety of our public as well as clamping down on fraud.</p>
<p>Immigration policy is a federal issue, and we all can acknowledge that this responsibility has not been met by our federal government. Hence we find ourselves, along with other states, grappling with the results of this abdication of responsibility.</p>
<p>The good news here in New Mexico is that there is still time enough in our legislative session for both parties (and the lone DTS) to come together and send a smart and effective driver’s license bill to Governor Martinez to sign.</p>
<p><em><a href="http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/legdetails.aspx?SPONCODE=HONEI" target="_blank">O’Neill</a>, a Democrat, represents District 15 in the New Mexico House.</em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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