{"id":1418,"date":"2007-03-16T10:24:00","date_gmt":"2007-03-16T16:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/03\/opponents-might-be-swayed-on-housing-overhaul-bill\/"},"modified":"2007-03-16T10:24:00","modified_gmt":"2007-03-16T16:24:00","slug":"opponents-might-be-swayed-on-housing-overhaul-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/03\/opponents-might-be-swayed-on-housing-overhaul-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Opponents might be swayed on housing overhaul bill"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The House Business and Industry Committee didn\u2019t take up this morning a bill that would remake the state\u2019s troubled housing authority system<\/a>, but shortly after the meeting, two committee members who have previously opposed the proposal said they might be willing to change their minds. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The committee plans to meet again later today.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Senate Bill 519<\/a>, sponsored by Sen. Mary Kay Papen<\/a>, D-Las Cruces, would fund an investigation to determine the extent of mismanagement that led to the housing authority system crumbling in scandal last year, and would also replace the authorities with a new system overseen by the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The committee recessed at about 9:30 a.m. so its Democratic members could attend a caucus meeting. Before the caucus meeting started, Papen spoke with the committee\u2019s vice-chair, Rep. George Hanosh<\/a>, D-Grants, and asked him to consider changing his vote. Hanosh has previously opposed her bill.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cI\u2019m open-minded,\u201d Hanosh said during their conversation. \u201cBut I feel that\u2026 the attorney general needs to investigate.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

He went on to explain to Papen that he doesn\u2019t think there is enough information to know whether the system needs a complete overhaul. Papen disagreed, pointing out the number of investigations that have taken place or are ongoing, and explaining some of the problems that have been revealed.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

But she said lawmakers can\u2019t wait for the completion of the ongoing attorney general probe, because, in the meantime, homes aren\u2019t being built, and she said the state needs thousands of affordable homes.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI think this investigation might go on for a long time, because I think it\u2019s very deep,\u201d Papen said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

She asked Hanosh to consider changing his mind.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI will,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Committee member Jim Trujillo<\/a>, D-Santa Fe, remained in the committee room until about 10 a.m. During a conversation he had that was audible in the committee room, he started out by saying he isn\u2019t flexible on his opposition to Papen\u2019s bill. He said the State Investment Council \u201cscrewed up big time\u201d in the bonds it bought from the housing authority, and said it has also made other mistakes.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a time when I\u2019ve got to stand up and say, \u2018Hey, hey, you tighten up over there,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

He also said it didn\u2019t appear to him that the bill would be resurrected when asked what\u2019s going to happen.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cSure looks like nothing, unless they\u2019re discussing something over there without me,\u201d he said. \u201c(The committee’s chair) Debbie (Rodella)<\/a> didn\u2019t say anything this morning.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

He then said the governor\u2019s office hasn\u2019t called to ask him to change his vote, but added that his vote might not be set in stone.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI might change my mind yet, if it has to be that way,\u201d Trujillo<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The House Business and Industry Committee didn\u2019t take up this morning a bill that would remake the state\u2019s troubled housing authority system, but shortly after the meeting, two committee members who have previously opposed the proposal said they might be willing to change their minds. The committee plans to meet again later today. Senate Bill […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1418\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}