{"id":26739,"date":"2011-03-03T09:26:08","date_gmt":"2011-03-03T16:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=26739"},"modified":"2011-03-03T14:19:34","modified_gmt":"2011-03-03T21:19:34","slug":"a-real-disservice-to-new-mexicans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2011\/03\/a-real-disservice-to-new-mexicans\/","title":{"rendered":"A real disservice to New Mexicans"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Heath Haussamen<\/p><\/div>\n

A change in House leadership was needed earlier this year, but most Democrats and Republicans instead opted for the status quo. While they\u2019re busy playing games, who is doing the business of the people they were elected to represent?<\/h4>\n

When Republicans opted against supporting Rep. Joseph Cervantes\u2019<\/a> attempt to overthrow House Speaker Ben Luj\u00e1n<\/a> earlier this year, they made a political decision<\/a> that they would have a better chance of taking control of the House in 2012 if the controversial Luj\u00e1n was speaker.<\/p>\n

Now they\u2019re upset that Luj\u00e1n broke House rules<\/a> on Wednesday to stop their attempt to revive a bill that would make it illegal for undocumented immigrants to obtain driver\u2019s licenses.<\/p>\n

What did they expect? Luj\u00e1n has a history of bending and breaking House rules, of twisting arms, and of not treating people fairly. He acts that way in full view of the public without concern for who\u2019s watching. In fact, Wednesday night he broke the rules even though the governor\u2019s office was recording him<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Luj\u00e1n plays dirty if that\u2019s what it takes to win. He often displays a lack of respect for the process, and for his colleagues. This is apparent to anyone who\u2019s paying close attention.<\/p>\n

Bending and breaking rules<\/h3>\n

The speaker says he didn\u2019t break the rules on Wednesday, but the governor\u2019s video reveals that he bent and broke rules. Here\u2019s how it played out:<\/p>\n

Rep. Andy Nu\u00f1ez<\/a> had the floor, having made a motion to blast his bill out of committee and bring it to the House floor for consideration. Instead of having the members decide what to do with the bill, Luj\u00e1n unilaterally decided to delay the vote until today. What gives him the right?<\/p>\n

The speaker uses a rule that says he is in charge of keeping order to say he can refuse or delay motions he doesn\u2019t like. That\u2019s an extremely (almost ridiculously) broad interpretation of a rule that doesn\u2019t actually say that, but the speaker has done it before.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, after the speaker said he would delay Nu\u00f1ez\u2019s motion, Majority Leader Ken Martinez<\/a> made a motion to adjourn and Luj\u00e1n entertained it. Republicans demanded a roll call vote, and Luj\u00e1n ignored them, though rules require a roll call vote when it\u2019s requested.<\/p>\n

Then the most blatant act by the speaker: Though it was difficult to tell whether the \u201cayes\u201d or \u201cnays\u201d won the vote, the speaker declared the \u201cayes\u201d the winners and walked out of the chamber, ignoring an appeal of his ruling that House rules require him to recognize.<\/p>\n

The rule (21-3 in this document<\/a>) is this: \u201cWhen the vote taken on any question by voice is uncertain, any member may demand a roll call.\u201d<\/p>\n

The vote was uncertain. The roll call was demanded. You can hear it on the governor\u2019s video. And Luj\u00e1n ignored it.<\/p>\n

Without question, the speaker broke the rule by walking off the House floor and ignoring the appeal of his ruling.<\/p>\n

Getting away with it<\/h3>\n

Then Luj\u00e1n sent out a news release claiming that he complied with House rules. He isn\u2019t telling the truth, but here\u2019s what he said:<\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to House Rules, a motion to adjourn takes precedence over all other motions, including the one made by Rep. Nu\u00f1ez. After a voice vote on the motion to adjourn was taken, it was clear that the vote was in favor of adjournment.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To top it off, Capitol Report New Mexico<\/a> quoted Luj\u00e1n\u2019s chief of staff as saying the speaker had already recognized Martinez, which is why he didn\u2019t accept Nu\u00f1ez\u2019s motion. Again, the video proves that\u2019s false. (This is why some lawmakers don\u2019t want to archive webcasts of their meetings.)<\/p>\n

In short, Luj\u00e1n openly disregarded the rules, as he\u2019s done many times in the past. It\u2019s as if he doesn\u2019t care, because he can get away with it.<\/p>\n

Why shouldn\u2019t he believe he can get away with it? He always has.<\/p>\n

Who is doing the people\u2019s business?<\/h3>\n

Sadly, many House Democrats voted with the speaker to adjourn on Wednesday and supported his unfair treatment of the other side, just like they voted to keep Luj\u00e1n in the leadership position last year. It\u2019s shameful, really, that they won\u2019t stand up to the speaker and show respect for House rules and their colleagues.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also shameful that Republicans put politics over fostering an atmosphere of respect and adherence to the rules \u2013 an atmosphere in which people might be treated fairly and bills would have a greater chance of being debated on their merits instead of having their fates decided by politics. I wonder if the governor\u2019s office had any role in this decision by the House GOP.<\/p>\n

Regardless of who could have replaced Luj\u00e1n as speaker (Cervantes, Martinez, Minority Leader Tom Taylor<\/a>, someone else), a change was needed.<\/p>\n

Those who tried to make a change before this session started were a bipartisan group that included Cervantes, Nu\u00f1ez, Taylor, Mary Helen Garcia<\/a>, Dona Irwin<\/a>, Dennis Kintigh<\/a> and Don Bratton<\/a>. Sadly, the majorities in both caucuses opted for the status quo \u2013 keeping a man in charge who breaks rules, divides people and leads through intimidation.<\/p>\n

That was a real disservice to the people of New Mexico on the part of the majority of Democrats and Republicans in the House. While they\u2019re busy playing games, who is doing the business of the people they were elected to represent?<\/p>\n

Haussamen bio<\/a> \u2502\u00a0Commentary archives<\/a> \u2502\u00a0Feed<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A change in House leadership was needed earlier this year, but most Democrats and Republicans instead opted for the status quo. While they\u2019re busy playing games, who is doing the business of the people they were elected to represent?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192,10],"tags":[156,107],"class_list":["post-26739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary","category-haussamen-columns","tag-2012-election","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26739","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=26739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26739\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}