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Spaceport tax election gets additional polling places

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Plans for the April 3 spaceport tax election will have to be redrawn after the Doña Ana County Board of Commissioners voted today to more than double the number of polling places that will be open. Because the election is only five weeks away, state law requires that a district judge approve the plan before it can become formal. The commission had previously approved 33 polling places, but many residents expressed concern that, on such an important vote, access to polling places should be easier. As a result, the commission decided during today’s meeting to scrap its plan for consolidated polling places and use the same polling places that were open during the November 2006 election. That’s approximately 75. Continue Reading

Minimum wage increase bill amended again

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A proposal to increase the state’s minimum wage underwent another significant change in a House committee Monday as lawmakers struggle to find compromise. Senate Bill 324, sponsored by Senate President Pro Tem Ben Altamirano, D-Silver City, was approved by the House Business and Industry Committee on a vote of 7-6, but it more closely mirrors a House proposal than the one approved by the Senate. The bill is on the House temporary calendar, so there’s a chance it could be voted on today. Two weeks ago, the House Labor and Human Resources Committee amended Altamirano’s bill to mirror House Bill 759, sponsored by Speaker of the House Ben Lujan, D-Nambé. The bills differ on key points, and a failure to find compromise torpedoed the wage increase proposal in 2006. Continue Reading

Panel OKs competing conference committee bills

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The House Judiciary Committee has approved separate proposals that take different approaches to opening conference committees to the public. The proposals now head to the Appropriations and Finance Committee before they can be considered by the full House. With only Rep. Elias Barela, D-Belen voting in opposition, the committee voted Monday to approve House Bill 297, sponsored by State Rep. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, and House Concurrent Resolution 1, sponsored by Majority Leader Ken Martinez of Grants, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican. Cervantes’ proposal would amend the New Mexico Open Meetings Act to require that conference committees be open meetings, unless the House and Senate provide for exemptions in their joint rules. It specifically exempts caucus meetings and meetings of panels investigating ethical conduct of members. Continue Reading

Proposed cockfighting ban heads to House floor

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A proposal to ban cockfighting in New Mexico is headed to the House floor. All members of the House Judiciary Committee except Minority Whip Dan Foley of Roswell voted in favor of the bill this afternoon. If it’s approved by the House, Senate Bill 10, sponsored by Sen. Mary Jane Garcia, D-Doña Ana, will have to go back to the Senate for concurrence because of a technical amendment adopted by the House Agriculture and Water Resources Committee that made minor language changes. The Senate approved the bill earlier in the session on a vote of 31-11. The bill was approved by the House two years ago on a vote of 50-15. Continue Reading

Garcia, Papen support Bush impeachment resolution

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Two of Doña Ana County’s senators have announced their support for a resolution calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Senator Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, did so by voting on Sunday in favor of the resolution, which was approved by the Senate Public Affairs Committee on a vote of 4-2. Though she was absent from the meeting, Sen. Mary Jane Garcia, D-Doña Ana and another member of the committee, has signed on to the bill. Two of the committee’s Republicans voted against the bill. The other members were absent. Continue Reading

SOS Herrera is in charge of the state today

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Secretary of State Mary Herrera is in charge of the state today. As the third in the line of succession, Herrera is in charge when the governor and lieutenant governor are out of the state. Gov. Bill Richardson is in Washington, D.C. today for a meeting of the National Governors Association, and Lt. Gov. Diane Denish is in Denver for a board meeting of a family business, according to the Associated Press. Next in line behind Herrera is Senate President Pro Tem Ben Altamirano, followed by Speaker of the House Ben Lujan. Continue Reading

Lawmakers won’t try to stop Jemez casino proposal

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A legislative panel reviewing Gov. Bill Richardson’s proposed new gaming compacts with 11 of the state’s 13 tribes is asking for one change but won’t seek to prohibit off-reservation casinos, though the idea was discussed this weekend. The committee voted Sunday to recommend that the compacts require tribes to set aside slot money for infrastructure on reservations that don’t have casinos, the Albuquerque Journal reported. That could produce $6 million annually for those tribes. Richardson and the tribes must now discuss the proposed changes, which will also need approval of the Legislature. Under the current compacts, which expire in 2015, tribes pay about 8 percent of slot revenue to the state. Continue Reading

Senate may vote on conference committees today

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The Senate is scheduled to vote again today on a proposal to open conference committees to the public. The item is seventh on the agenda of third reading of legislation, but the schedule is always a work in progress that can change. The Senate was scheduled to begin meeting at 10 a.m. today. Senate Bill 322, sponsored by Joe Carraro, R-Albuquerque, is different than Senate Bill 288, which the body killed by one vote two weeks ago, in that it specifies that the public can be present but cannot participate in conference committees, and that political parties will have proportional representation on committees. Some believe the differences in the bill give it a better chance of passing. Continue Reading

Richardson presidential campaign gaining traction

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The news keeps getting better for the presidential campaign of Gov. Bill Richardson. The governor is continuing a slow and steady rise in prominence since announcing on Jan. 21 that he was running for president. What remains to be seen is whether he can climb fast enough to catch the three frontrunners for the Democratic nomination. Two days after former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack announced that he was dropping out of the race because he couldn’t raise enough cash, Richardson’s campaign announced his first trip to Iowa since he entered the race on Jan. Continue Reading

House committee approves cockfighting ban

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The proposal to ban cockfighting in New Mexico was approved on a vote of 6-1 on Saturday by members of the House Agriculture and Water Resources Committee. Senate Bill 10, sponsored by Sen. Mary Jane Garcia, D-Doña Ana, will be voted on today or Wednesday by members of the House Judiciary Committee, who were present at Saturday’s hearing. The bill will likely be approved there, and will then head to the House floor for a vote. The committee’s vote was to send the bill on without a recommendation. Rep. Don Tripp, R-Socorro, cast the dissenting vote. Continue Reading

Poll: Conference committees should be open

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The vast majority of those who voted in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site said legislative conference committees should be open to the public. Of 144 votes cast, 120, or 83 percent, were in favor of opening conference committees, while 24, or 17 percent, were against the proposal. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

Announcing a new layout and design for this site

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Today marks the unveiling of a major redesign of Heath Haussamen on New Mexico Politics. It’s the result of five months of work and a lot of consultation with other people. In addition to the changes in colors, you probably noticed that there are now three columns running down the page instead of two. That allows me to present more information, and to do it in a more organized manner. You’ll notice at the top of the left column several new categories of links designed to help you more easily navigate this site. Continue Reading

Speaker chastised for playing politics with capital outlay; House members work out compromise

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What began with an apparent broken promise by Speaker of the House Ben Lujan ended during a debate Thursday with a productive deal that might set a precedent that takes some of the politics out of capital outlay disbursement. Several weeks ago Senate Bill 710, sponsored by Michael Sanchez, D-Belen, was approved on a vote of 38-2 in the Senate. It would restore many of the capital outlay projects approved by the Legislature in 2006 but vetoed by Gov. Bill Richardson. Since then, the politically hot potato – which is essentially an act of standing up to the governor – has sat untouched in the House. After a threat from the Senate that it wouldn’t hear any House legislation until that bill began moving, Lujan had Senate Bill 710 make its way through two House committees and to the House floor on Thursday evening. Continue Reading

Guard equipment shortage worries N.M. delegation

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The New Mexico congressional delegation today launched a push to get answers about why the New Mexico National Guard has the lowest level of available equipment of any Guard operation in the nation, and to find a solution. Among the problems cited is that the state’s Guard is using outdated helicopters that need to be replaced. U.S. Senators Pete Domenici and Jeff Bingaman, along with Reps. Heather Wilson, Tom Udall and Steve Pearce, issued a letter today to the secretary of the Army requesting a briefing on the equipment shortage and a plan to correct the situation. In a study released in January, the General Accountability Office reported that as of November, non-deployed Army National Guard forces in New Mexico ranked last in the nation regarding equipment readiness, having only 33.8 percent of the total amount of dual-use equipment they are authorized to have for war-fighting missions. Continue Reading

Cockfighting ban on fast track through House

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A statewide ban on cockfighting appears to be on the fast track through the House, which has approved it before. Senate Bill 10, sponsored by Sen. Mary Jane Garcia, D-Doña Ana, will be heard Saturday by the House Agriculture and Water Resources Committee. What’s unique is that members of the House Judiciary Committee will listen in on the hearing so that they can quickly vote on the measure during their own hearing on Monday without listening to testimony. That will move the bill to the House floor as early as next week, assuming both committees approve it, which is likely. Saturday’s hearing will take place approximately 30 minutes after the end of the House floor session. Continue Reading