{"id":25948,"date":"2011-02-10T08:16:59","date_gmt":"2011-02-10T15:16:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=25948"},"modified":"2011-02-10T16:22:02","modified_gmt":"2011-02-10T23:22:02","slug":"some-want-legislators-to-pass-budget-go-home-early","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2011\/02\/some-want-legislators-to-pass-budget-go-home-early\/","title":{"rendered":"Some want legislators to pass budget, go home early"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

The Roundhouse in Santa Fe (Photo by Heath Haussamen)<\/p><\/div>\n

Early adjournment would save money, but some lawmakers say there\u2019s too much important work to be done to quit before session\u2019s scheduled end on March 19<\/h4>\n

With the talk of the legislative session thus far being its sluggish pace, some want to get on with passing a budget and a few other bills, and then adjourn early to save taxpayer dollars.<\/p>\n

Among the supporters of such an idea are Sen. John Arthur Smith<\/a>, D-Deming and chair of the Senate Finance Committee, and Gov. Susana Martinez<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would save the state a ton of money,\u201d Smith told NMPolitics.net on Wednesday. \u201cIt would certainly be the responsible thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martinez\u2019s spokesman, Scott Darnell, said the governor is supportive of the idea \u2013 as long as legislation she\u2019s pushing gets a fair hearing and a floor vote first.<\/p>\n

\u201cPassing a balanced budget that protects classroom spending and health care for those most in need is the highest priority, but we are also collectively charged with making important reforms to education, public safety and economic development,\u201d Darnell said. \u201cSo long as these priorities receive a fair hearing and a floor vote, the governor certainly supports adjourning the session early to save taxpayers money.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 60-day session is costing taxpayers about $139,000 a day<\/a>. Though far fewer bills have been introduced this session than in the last 60-day session in 2009, that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean legislation is moving through the process more slowly than it has in the past.<\/p>\n

But many have described the atmosphere in Santa Fe as one in which little is happening. The Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, in its daily newsletter on the session, has repeatedly pointed out that the House and Senate are meeting only for short periods each day.<\/p>\n

From the Feb. 3 edition<\/a> of the newsletter:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe inactivity of the session seems a bit like a 30 day session where the only job is to pass a budget and go home. \u2026 most believe this session will continue to mosey along and eventually get a budget passed and a few other things passed and killed and call it a day.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Fischmann: Other issues \u2018deserve a fair hearing\u2019<\/h3>\n

Lawmakers hold a 30-day session one year to focus on the budget and a 60-day session open to any issue the next. If lawmakers don\u2019t focus on non-budgetary issues this session, it will be two years before they\u2019re able to do it again without the governor\u2019s consent. For that reason, many oppose going home before the session is scheduled to end on March 19.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a ton of issues that have nothing to do with budget appropriations, and I think they deserve a fair hearing,\u201d said Sen. Steve Fischmann<\/a>, D-Las Cruces.<\/p>\n

He said skipping discussions on important policy issues \u2013 such as transparency legislation he\u2019s pushing and a controversial proposal to amend the state Constitution to define marriage \u2013 \u201cdisenfranchises all of those people who voted for their local legislator and are looking for that legislator to influence policy in the direction that they believe in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got three branches of government, and we don\u2019t need to be chopping one of them off at the knees,\u201d Fischmann said.<\/p>\n

Sen. Tim Keller<\/a>, D-Albuquerque, agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there\u2019s one thing we learned in the \u201808 election and the 2010 election, it\u2019s that people are very fed up with the status quo,\u201d he said. \u201cTo change it, we\u2019ve got to be up here working hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are lots of ideas in the system, and the whole point of democracy is to discuss those ideas,\u201d Keller said. \u201cWe should have the discussion. We can\u2019t close the doors early and go home and say we\u2019re not going to talk about things anymore in New Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taylor is skeptical about going home early<\/h3>\n

Smith said bills seeking tax increases the governor has promised to veto and funding increases for various programs are on hold because the committee he chairs has yet to see the proposed budget, which would give a more accurate picture of how the available money is going to be spent.<\/p>\n

Anyway, he said, such bills are pointless because there\u2019s no money to add to programs. Lawmakers are trying to plug a budget shortfall primarily with cuts because of the governor\u2019s promise to veto revenue-raising legislation.<\/p>\n

Smith said there are a couple of economic-development bills the Legislature should pass in addition to the budget before adjourning. He mentioned the proposed fuel tax exemption<\/a> to convince Union Pacific Railroad to move its hub from El Paso to Santa Teresa.<\/p>\n

He said it wouldn\u2019t take lawmakers long to pass those bills and the budget if they buckle down.<\/p>\n

But House Minority Leader Tom Taylor<\/a>, R-Farmington, said there are \u201ca number of important issues out there that we need to address\u201d and the public expects lawmakers to do just that. He said he\u2019s skeptical of the idea of adjourning early.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s absolutely impossible that we could be done a week early,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cAt this point I would reserve saying, \u2018yeah, we can go home early,\u2019 but who knows?\u201d<\/p>\n

Nu\u00f1ez: Stop wasting time and money<\/h3>\n

Rep. Andy Nu\u00f1ez<\/a>, an independent from Hatch, said the Legislature could do it all \u2013 pass the budget and other important legislation and go home early to save money \u2013 if lawmakers stopped wasting time. He said the House has started late and adjourned early every day thus far.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have done nothing here in the House except go through memorials and junk legislation,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s all we\u2019ve done, and that\u2019s a big waste of money.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re wasting a hell of a lot of time up here,\u201d Nu\u00f1ez said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the talk of the legislative session thus far being its sluggish pace, some want to get on with passing a budget and a few other bills, and then adjourn early to save taxpayer dollars.<\/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":[118,107],"class_list":["post-25948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-economy","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25948","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=25948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25948\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}