{"id":36707,"date":"2012-02-14T07:33:38","date_gmt":"2012-02-14T14:33:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=36707"},"modified":"2012-02-14T11:45:55","modified_gmt":"2012-02-14T18:45:55","slug":"senate-oks-budget-social-promotion-drivers-license-bills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2012\/02\/senate-oks-budget-social-promotion-drivers-license-bills\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate OKs budget, social promotion, driver\u2019s license bills"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>

The Roundhouse in Santa Fe (Photo by Peter St. Cyr)<\/p><\/div>\n

The N.M. Senate moved on high-profile legislation during a session that started Monday evening and lasted into the early hours of the morning, approving the budget and a bill designed to put an end to \u201csocial promotion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senators also approved a bill that amends, but does not repeal, the law that allows undocumented immigrants to obtain driver\u2019s licenses. The House has already passed a repeal bill, and with the Senate and governor unable to strike a compromise, that issue is dead<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The votes to address three of the most high-profile pieces of legislation came less than three days before the session\u2019s end at noon on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The budget<\/h3>\n

The Senate approved the $5.6 billion budget<\/a> on a vote of 34-6, making only a few changes from the House-approved version that must be reconciled before the bill goes to the governor. House approval last week was unanimous.<\/p>\n

The bill leaves about $24 million unappropriated that could be used for tax breaks sought by Gov. Susana Martinez<\/a> or something else.<\/p>\n

According to a news release from the Democratic caucus, the Senate\u2019s changes to the House-approved version involved shifting $17 million to funding for \u201cprojects like drug courts, food banks, adult literacy programs, library services and established a Ben Luj\u00e1n Cancer Program at the University of New Mexico. Also included are budget funds to eliminate unfair mortgage practices, and job training incentive programs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are all important programs that we need to make sure that New Mexico has the tools to help our citizens flourish,\u201d said Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez<\/a>, D-Belen. \u201cFrom food banks to job training incentive programs, these appropriations will help New Mexicans feed their families, grow in their jobs and take care of their families.\u201d<\/p>\n

Social promotion bill<\/h3>\n

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats sent no news release about the vote in favor of Senate Bill 96<\/a>, sponsored by John Arthur Smith<\/a>, D-Deming, that seeks to end so-called \u201csocial promotion\u201d of students who aren\u2019t reading at grade level by third grade. But Republicans touted the 24-19 vote to pass the bill in a news release.<\/p>\n

\u201cReading is one of the most important topics we can talk about regarding our children\u2019s welfare and development,\u201d Minority Leader Stuart Ingle<\/a>, R-Portales and a co-sponsor of the legislation, said on the Senate floor. \u201cI hope the attention this debate has had regarding early intervention will get the attention of parents and remind them how important they are in this process. If the parent cares, the child will do well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bill not only requires retention in third grade (and allows it earlier); it also provides help before that \u2013 including parental notification, screenings, and an intervention plan.<\/p>\n

A similar bill is awaiting a floor vote in the House.<\/p>\n

Driver\u2019s license bill<\/h3>\n

As for the driver\u2019s license bill, Senate Bill 235<\/a>, the Senate, as expected, rejected an amendment from the GOP to repeal the law. The Senate instead approved legislation, which was sponsored by President Pro Tem Tim Jennings<\/a>, D-Roswell, that would amend the law. From a Democratic caucus news release:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe law requires tougher requirements for foreign nationals including license renewal every year, fingerprints in a database available to all departments of law enforcement and increases penalties for those who knowingly provide false paperwork for foreign nationals.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWe need to strengthen the current law, and clearly address the flaws in the system,\u201d Jennings said. \u201cThe stronger law will work to eliminate the instances of fraud, and will make sure that New Mexicans are safe and driving with other licensed drivers. This bill provides far and away more safety to New Mexicans than any other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martinez, who wants a full repeal of the law, has promised to veto the Jennings bill. The House has already refused to pass legislation like it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During a session that lasted into the early hours of the morning, the N.M. Senate approved the budget, a bill designed to put an end to \u201csocial promotion,\u201d and legislation that amends the law that allows undocumented immigrants to obtain driver\u2019s licenses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[140,142,118,125,107],"class_list":["post-36707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-border-and-immigration","tag-crime","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36707","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=36707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36707\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}