{"id":26450,"date":"2011-02-23T06:51:15","date_gmt":"2011-02-23T13:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=26450"},"modified":"2011-02-24T09:25:21","modified_gmt":"2011-02-24T16:25:21","slug":"martinez-puts-full-weight-behind-driver%e2%80%99s-license-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2011\/02\/martinez-puts-full-weight-behind-driver%e2%80%99s-license-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Martinez puts full weight behind driver\u2019s license bill"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Gov. Susana Martinez<\/p><\/div>\n

Gov. Susana Martinez<\/a> is putting her full weight behind legislation that would repeal the state law that allows undocumented immigrants to obtain driver\u2019s licenses, going on the offensive with radio ads and robocalls.<\/p>\n

In doing so, Martinez appears to be challenging legislators to approve one of her top priorities or face the political consequences of being opposed to the opinions of most voters on a hot-button issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I traveled across the state, it was clear New Mexicans from all parties overwhelmingly supported doing away with this dangerous law,\u201d Martinez said in a prepared statement. \u201cFrankly, the only place I\u2019ve found opposition to repealing it has been in the Roundhouse, and I hope legislators will listen to those they have been elected to serve and give this bill an up-or-down vote.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Republican Martinez is putting heavy pressure on Democrats who have voted against the legislation on the Senate floor and in a House committee. On Tuesday, her gubernatorial campaign began running the radio ad statewide urging people to call their lawmakers to lobby for repeal of the law. You can listen to it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome legislators are blocking a vote, protecting a bad law,\u201d the ad states.<\/p>\n

And the state Republican Party came out with a robocall that hit the district of Rep. Rhonda King<\/a>, D-Stanley, and others. The recorded message asks people to call their lawmakers and tell them to \u201cstop giving driver\u2019s licenses to illegal immigrants.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Office of House Speaker Ben Luj\u00e1n<\/a>, D-Namb\u00e9, was flooded with calls on Tuesday from people who want the law repealed.<\/p>\n

Dems have thus far rejected the proposal<\/h3>\n

The governor\u2019s push comes after a series of votes in which Democrats repeatedly rejected attempts to repeal the controversial law. On Saturday, the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee tabled three such bills, including a Martinez-endorsed bill<\/a> sponsored by Rep. Andy Nu\u00f1ez<\/a>, I-Hatch.<\/p>\n

Then on Monday, during debate on a bill related to provisional driving for minors, the Senate defeated two proposed GOP amendments<\/a> that would have repealed the controversial law. That happened on a mostly party-line vote.<\/p>\n

But Martinez isn\u2019t the only one lobbying. According to the Albuquerque Journal<\/a>, \u201cAbout 2,000 people who support the law have called Martinez\u2019s office to voice their beliefs, said Marcela Diaz, executive director of the Santa Fe-based Somos Un Pueblo Unido.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Mexico is one of three states, along with Washington and Utah, that doesn\u2019t require proof of citizenship to obtain a license. Supporters of the law say allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain licenses has reduced the rate of uninsured drivers on the roads. Critics point to instances in which immigrants who are in the United States illegally have traveled to New Mexico to obtain licenses<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That tension between those two positions was apparent in Monday\u2019s Senate debate. According to the Journal, Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino<\/a>, D-Albuquerque said the law is \u201cpreventing problems,\u201d not causing them, but Sen. William Sharer<\/a>, R-Farmington, said New Mexico\u2019s license \u201ccurrently is a compromised security document.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s still time<\/h3>\n

There\u2019s still time in the session for the issue to come up again. Martinez plans to continue pushing. In a Saturday news release, she pointed to an Albuquerque Journal poll<\/a> that found that 72 percent of New Mexicans oppose the law.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis critical matter of public safety deserves an up-or-down vote on the floor of the Legislature,\u201d Martinez said in that news release. \u201cThe people of New Mexico have made it clear that they disapprove of the policy of issuing driver\u2019s licenses to illegal immigrants, but their voices are sadly not being heard by some of their elected representatives.\u201d<\/p>\n

One question is whether Nu\u00f1ez will try to gather enough votes to blast his bill out of the committee that has tabled it and bring it directly to the House floor for a vote. Nu\u00f1ez would need the support of the entire GOP caucus \u2013 which he\u2019s likely to have \u2013 and at least two Democrats to make that happen.<\/p>\n

Nu\u00f1ez wouldn\u2019t go into detail, but said he\u2019s working on reviving his bill and thinks \u201cit still has a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the meantime, some believe Martinez is pushing for floor votes for political reasons. The law is unpopular in many legislative districts, and her opposition to it proved to be a key part of Martinez\u2019s victory in the primary and general elections last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know why all these amendments are coming down,\u201d Senate Majority Leader\u00a0Michael Sanchez<\/a>, D-Belen, said during Monday\u2019s Senate debate, according to Capitol Report New Mexico<\/a>. \u201cThis is about politics and getting people on the record for a vote.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gov. Susana Martinez is putting her full weight behind legislation that would repeal the state law that allows undocumented immigrants to obtain driver\u2019s licenses, going on the offensive with radio ads and robocalls.<\/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":[140,107],"class_list":["post-26450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-border-and-immigration","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26450","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=26450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26450\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}