{"id":25334,"date":"2011-01-24T08:46:40","date_gmt":"2011-01-24T15:46:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=25334"},"modified":"2011-01-25T07:33:03","modified_gmt":"2011-01-25T14:33:03","slug":"cervantes-and-allies-are-still-key-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2011\/01\/cervantes-and-allies-are-still-key-players\/","title":{"rendered":"Cervantes and allies are still key players"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_12540\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignright\" style=\"max-width: 270px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-12540 \" title=\"Roundhouse\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/Roundhouse-300x226.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"270\" height=\"203\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/Roundhouse-300x226.jpg 300w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/Roundhouse.jpg 316w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 270px) 100vw, 270px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Roundhouse in Santa Fe (Photo by Heath Haussamen)<\/p><\/div>\n<h4>Group plans to use influence to force bipartisan cooperation. \u2018Those who dig in along party lines are not going to be passing legislation this session,\u2019 Cervantes says.<\/h4>\n<p>Though they weren\u2019t successful in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2011\/01\/lujan-keeps-job-as-speaker\/\">overthrowing<\/a> Speaker <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmlegis.gov\/lcs\/legdetails.aspx?SPONCODE=HLUJA\">Ben Luj\u00e1n<\/a>, a group of four Southern New Mexico Democrats who crossed party lines to try to oust the House\u2019s leader still wield a great deal of power in the Roundhouse.<\/p>\n<p>Those four \u2013 Las Crucens <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmlegis.gov\/lcs\/legdetails.aspx?SPONCODE=HCERV\">Joseph Cervantes<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmlegis.gov\/lcs\/legdetails.aspx?SPONCODE=HGAMH\">Mary Helen Garcia<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmlegis.gov\/lcs\/legdetails.aspx?SPONCODE=HIRWI\">Dona Irwin<\/a> of Deming, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmlegis.gov\/lcs\/legdetails.aspx?SPONCODE=HNUNE\">Andy Nu\u00f1ez<\/a> of Hatch \u2013 benefit from their willingness to cross the aisle, and from the new reality in the House that it takes fewer rogue Democrats to help Republicans win a fight.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVoters said they wanted change,\u201d Irwin told NMPolitics.net. \u201cThis may be the way to make that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Democrats have long held a large numerical advantage in the House, but not any more. The GOP picked up several House seats in the November election, and there are now 37 Democrats and 33 Republicans. With Nu\u00f1ez considering <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2011\/01\/nunez-might-become-an-independent\/\">becoming an independent<\/a>, the numbers for Democrats are even less solid.<\/p>\n<p>Consider some of the ways in which the four southern lawmakers could influence things:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If the Republican caucus is united in opposition to a piece of legislation, it only takes two additional votes to kill it. Legislation dies on a tie vote.<\/li>\n<li>It takes three others voting with the Republican caucus to pass legislation, so Republicans have the opportunity to proactively push their agenda.<\/li>\n<li>Cervantes ran for speaker on a promise of treating everyone fairly, something Luj\u00e1n has not done. If Cervantes and others see Luj\u00e1n holding up a bill in a committee, it would only take three of them voting with Republicans to bypass the speaker and bring the bill directly to the House floor for deliberation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>That means Cervantes, Garcia, Irwin and Nu\u00f1ez could act as the enforcers of House rules and fairness. It also means both sides will be working to craft legislation the four are willing to support.<\/p>\n<p>Cervantes said he intends to use his influence to force the House to work in a bipartisan manner.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe only way we\u2019re going to rebuild our economy, get ourselves out of debt, and restore confidence and trust in the government is by working in a bipartisan way,\u201d he said. \u201cThose who dig in along party lines are not going to be passing legislation this session.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>\u2018They stuck their necks out\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>Of course, Cervantes, Garcia, Irwin and Nu\u00f1ez are still left-leaning lawmakers, and there are many issues on which they won\u2019t find common ground with Republicans. And there is certainly the possibility that Republicans will find other Democrats to work with as well.<\/p>\n<p>But Minority Leader <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmlegis.gov\/lcs\/legdetails.aspx?SPONCODE=HTAYT\">Tom Taylor<\/a>, R-Farmington, acknowledged that Republicans will try to work with Cervantes and the three Democrats who openly supported his attempt to become speaker.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey stuck their necks out, and so we\u2019ll do what we can to return the favor,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n<p>House Republicans find themselves in unfamiliar territory. In recent history, they haven\u2019t had the numbers to pass many bills, so their primary focus has been on stopping liberal legislation. Now they have the opportunity to be more influential in setting the state\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere aren\u2019t any coalitions, so it will be an issue-based situation for us \u2013 no different than it\u2019s been in the past, other than the fact that we don\u2019t have to get as many on the other side to see things in our direction,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n<h3>\u2018The speaker has to have those four votes\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>Sen. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmlegis.gov\/lcs\/legdetails.aspx?SPONCODE=SSMIT\">John Arthur Smith<\/a>, D-Deming and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said Tuesday that many of the differences between Democrats are regional. He has often been at odds with Luj\u00e1n and on the same side of issues as Cervantes, Garcia, Irwin and Nu\u00f1ez.<\/p>\n<p>Smith said he believes there are instances in which that north\/south divide will come into play, and others in which Cervantes and the other three will side with the Democratic caucus.<\/p>\n<p>Luj\u00e1n is going to have to reach out to those four Democrats, Smith said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s no ifs, ands, or buts about it: The speaker has to have those four votes, because if he doesn\u2019t have those votes, his interests are not going to carry the day,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n<p>He said the days of \u201cpunishing membership for what they do is going to have to end.\u201d His comments came before Luj\u00e1n <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2011\/01\/lujan-strips-nunez-of-committee-chairmanship\/\">removed Nu\u00f1ez from his committee positions<\/a>, including stripping him of his chairmanship of the Agriculture and Water Resources Committee.<\/p>\n<p>But Luj\u00e1n did extend an olive branch to Garcia, making her chair of the Voters and Elections Committee. And he left the committee assignments of Cervantes and Irwin untouched.<\/p>\n<h3>Shifting the focus<\/h3>\n<p>Cervantes said the first week of the session was, \u201cunfortunately, marred by really very little more than politics.\u201d He said he and the others will try to shift the focus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was too little emphasis on what the citizens of the state need for us to be doing to help create jobs and get people back to work,\u201d Cervantes said. \u201cSo our goal is to try and make those things happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Garcia said she and the other three southern Democrats will consider each issue individually and decide whose position is in the best interest of the state. If the GOP position is better, she said, \u201cthere\u2019s no way we will go along with what the speaker is demanding of us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we think it\u2019s good legislation, and we think we should go along with it, we will,\u201d Garcia said.<\/p>\n<p>Luj\u00e1n has not returned a call seeking comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Though they weren\u2019t successful in overthrowing Speaker Ben Luj\u00e1n, a group of four Southern New Mexico Democrats who crossed party lines to try to oust the House\u2019s leader still wield a great deal of power.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[107],"class_list":["post-25334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25334","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=25334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25334\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}