{"id":522683,"date":"2018-02-18T00:02:10","date_gmt":"2018-02-18T07:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=522683"},"modified":"2018-02-18T21:32:13","modified_gmt":"2018-02-19T04:32:13","slug":"the-gatekeeper-senate-finance-chair-holds-sway-over-child-related-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2018\/02\/the-gatekeeper-senate-finance-chair-holds-sway-over-child-related-funding\/","title":{"rendered":"The gatekeeper: Senate finance chair holds sway over child-related funding"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_526593\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-526593\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/SLNM_JAS_2-771x509.jpg\" alt=\"John Arthur Smith\" width=\"771\" height=\"509\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/SLNM_JAS_2-771x509.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/SLNM_JAS_2-336x222.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/SLNM_JAS_2-768x507.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/SLNM_JAS_2-1170x773.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/SLNM_JAS_2.jpg 1175w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Adria Malcolm \/ for Searchlight New Mexico<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">John Arthur Smith in the State Capitol in late 2017.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The car tire blew. The 1948 Ford sedan rolled off the highway from Columbus, throwing the 16-year-old driver nearly to his death.<\/p>\n<p>For eight years, he lay comatose in the Deming house where Sen. John Arthur Smith &#8212; today, arguably the most powerful man in the New Mexico Legislature &#8212; grew up.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-left half type-aside\">\n<h3>About this article<\/h3>\n<p>This article is part of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/searchlightnm.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Searchlight New Mexico\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0year-long journalistic investigation into child well-being in New Mexico. Read the series, Raising New Mexico,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/series\/raising-new-mexico\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>James \u201cJimmy\u201d Franklin Smith was a star athlete and John Arthur\u2019s big brother. The accident on March 30, 1952 shattered his cerebral cortex, the part of the brain that\u2019s responsible for thinking and language. The family poured all its earnings from a small liquor store into paying for around-the-clock nursing care.<\/p>\n<p>John Arthur Smith, the youngest, was 11 when it happened.<\/p>\n<p>Smith recalls his reaction, speaking in the third person before catching himself: \u201cThe response on how you act &#8212; my parents had enough worries without a kid getting in trouble. And it wasn\u2019t that I was a goody two-shoes, so to speak, but the bottom line was I didn\u2019t get in trouble.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were always hurting for money,\u201d he adds. \u201cI always had a job.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s always there, in the back of his mind, the specter of the unlikely or unthinkable occurrence. Plan for the worst. Save for the rainy day. You just never know.<\/p>\n<p>The family tragedy shaped Smith\u2019s boyhood and set in motion a personal mantra that would inform every decision he makes as chairman as the powerful Senate Finance Committee: \u201cYou better be damn careful with the dollar [because] you never know what\u2019s going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_526602\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 336px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-526602\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/JAS4-336x555.jpg\" alt=\"John Arthur Smith\" width=\"336\" height=\"555\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/JAS4-336x555.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/JAS4-768x1269.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/JAS4-771x1274.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/JAS4-1170x1933.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/JAS4.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 336px) 100vw, 336px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Courtesy photo<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">John Arthur Smith, center, as a child with his two older brothers. Jimmy Smith sits on the left; the eldest, Benny Ray, is on the right.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>It became his campaign slogan in 1988 when he first ran for state Senate: \u201cJohn Arthur Smith: I\u2019m careful with your dollar.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And then there was another tragic reminder: In 1987, after Smith and his brother-in-law opened an auto parts store, a bolt of lightning killed his new business partner. Dick Strand was riding his motorcycle home to Deming from Silver City after a storm when the tragedy struck. He was a week shy of his 40th birthday. It was the year before Smith\u2019s first run for office.<\/p>\n<p>Smith, now 76, is a fiscally conservative southern New Mexico Democrat, a real estate appraiser by trade who has served in the Legislature nearly 30 years &#8212; a decade as Senate Finance Committee chairman &#8212; and has earned a reputation as the state\u2019s banker.<\/p>\n<p>He is often called \u201ca legend,\u201d \u201chard-nosed,\u201d and \u201cthe adult in the room when it comes to the budget.\u201d He has earned the nickname \u201cDr. No.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To some, he is the quintessential steward of New Mexico\u2019s financial well-being. To others &#8212; especially those who cite New Mexico\u2019s dead-last ranking for child poverty &#8212; he is the primary obstacle to more substantial investment in early childhood education.<\/p>\n<p>Smith \u201cis probably the most influential legislator in the New Mexico Legislature,\u201d says Garrey Carruthers, a former governor and the current chancellor at New Mexico State University. \u201cHe rattles my cage from time to time. I have groveled with him and lost.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Position and power<\/h3>\n<p>Nothing makes it into the New Mexico state budget without getting past Smith.<\/p>\n<p>He prefers that the budget rely on recurring revenue, like taxes, and is loathe to touch anything resembling a savings account. He worries about the state\u2019s weakened bond rating and wants to build up reserves that New Mexico raided during the recession.<\/p>\n<p>Where child well-being is concerned, he sponsored full-day kindergarten and has supported conservative year-over-year increases in funding for preschool, an extended school year program called K3-Plus, as well as home visiting &#8212; even during recent lean budget years.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>But he has also been child advocates\u2019 top foe, thanks to his opposition to proposed constitutional amendments that would take money for early childhood programs from the $22 billion permanent funds. The blessing of the Senate Finance Committee is required for a public referendum.<\/p>\n<p>Such proposals often die in his committee.<\/p>\n<p>People say the funds are \u201cbeing saved for a rainy day,\u201d Smith says. \u201cThey have no idea how much is spinning off right now, earmarked for education.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Smith is both feared and widely respected. Many people interviewed for this story declined to criticize him on the record, fretting that they would have to face him at the negotiating table.<\/p>\n<p>One advocate for early childhood investment requested anonymity, saying: \u201cWe understand how much power he holds at the Capitol. When it comes to talking about him, we don\u2019t want him to backlash because of something we have done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Smith is the titular leader of a coalition of conservative Democrats and Republicans known in child advocacy circles as the \u201cSmithsonians\u201d who oppose further drawing down the funds.<\/p>\n<h3>Political roots<\/h3>\n<p>It was 1988. An ad in the Deming Headlight asked readers to \u201cvote the Democratic ticket,\u201d with presidential candidate Michael Dukakis at the top. A black-and-white photo showed a dark-haired Smith in thick glasses in his campaign photo for New Mexico Senate.<\/p>\n<p>Smith ran a scrappy campaign against a local banker in Senate District 35, which today spans the southwest corner of Do\u00f1a Ana County and all of Luna and Hidalgo counties down to the Mexican border. It is one of the state\u2019s poorest areas, a mix of farm and ranch land and small businesses and very low wages.<\/p>\n<p>He promised to take no campaign contributions and made hand-painted signs. He earned the blessing of his mentor, Ike \u201cThe Bear\u201d Smalley, who represented the area for 32 years as a conservative Democrat in the state Senate.<\/p>\n<p>Dukakis lost; Smith won.<\/p>\n<p>Today, the candidate who refused to accept donations receives tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions annually thanks to his leadership position, with some of the biggest deposits coming from oil and gas businesses, according to campaign finance reports.<\/p>\n<p>In Luna County, in the heart of the district, two-thirds of residents are Hispanic and 41 percent of children live in poverty, according to the U.S. Census and New Mexico Department of Health. Median household income is about $27,000 a year, less than two-thirds of the state\u2019s median income of about $46,000.<\/p>\n<p>The county went for Donald Trump in 2016, 48 percent versus 44 percent for Hillary Clinton. Smith won his race unopposed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s very hard to find a liberal Democrat in Luna County,\u201d says Charles \u201cTink\u201d Jackson, a former Luna County manager. \u201cYou had to be a Democrat because Democrats always won. But you couldn\u2019t win unless you were conservative. They\u2019re old-school Democrats there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Smith is a classic example. Politics, he said, \u201cwas talked around the dinner table.\u201d His grandfather took him to see presidential candidate Harry Truman, a Democrat, when he made a stop in Albuquerque in 1948. Truman became his political idol.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe buck stopped with Truman,\u201d Smith says. \u201cHe took responsibility whether he succeeded or failed. That is an endangered species in politics today.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_526598\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-526598\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/SLNM_JAS_16-771x512.jpg\" alt=\"John Arthur Smith\" width=\"771\" height=\"512\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/SLNM_JAS_16-771x512.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/SLNM_JAS_16-336x223.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/SLNM_JAS_16-768x510.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/SLNM_JAS_16-1170x777.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/SLNM_JAS_16.jpg 1190w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Adria Malcolm \/ for Searchlight New Mexico<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">John Arthur Smith in the State Capitol in late 2017.<\/p><\/div>\n<h3>A matter of money<\/h3>\n<p>One November morning, Smith ambled the curved halls of the Roundhouse, looking for hot coffee in an executive office, politely putting off lobbyists from Think New Mexico, a local think tank, who had come to talk to him about reallocating dollars from public school administration to the classroom. He had a Senate Finance Committee meeting to chair in 10 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>There were few big, new investments expected, as the state was still clawing its way out of the recession to restore funding that had been cut in recent years, including to public schools and universities. Lawmakers signed off last week on a $6.3 billion budget.<\/p>\n<p>In committee, Smith occupies the center chair of a crescent of seats.<\/p>\n<p>Agency directors come one after another explaining their wants and needs. The brightly lit auditorium is nearly empty but for the committee. Smith follows each presentation meticulously, listening as other members ask questions. And then, inevitably, he hits each presenter with the bottom line:<\/p>\n<p>How do you intend to pay for it?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are people who don\u2019t want to look down the road at all,\u201d Smith says. \u201cAnd I look too far. So how do I find the middle ground to make that investment?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Given his position, the plight of New Mexico\u2019s children has often been pinned on his shoulders.<\/p>\n<p>In 2013 &#8212; the year New Mexico fell to No. 50, behind Mississippi, in the annual Annie E. Casey Foundation\u2019s ranking of child well-being &#8212; a social justice organization called OLE showed up to an LFC meeting with a giant greeting card and a half-dozen heart- and star-shaped balloons.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExcuse me, Sen. Smith,\u201d said parent leader Raquel Roybal, \u201cthe people of Mississippi would like to thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In recent years, grassroots organizers have laid off targeting Smith directly &#8212; in part because it simply hasn\u2019t worked.<\/p>\n<p>An advocate from another child-focused organization said: \u201cHe is not our obstacle. Our obstacle is the entire Senate because they give him the power. I think he does mean well, but \u2026 he needs to take some responsibility for the mess New Mexico is in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>About that, Smith says: \u201cWhat\u2019s frustrating about that is they don\u2019t acknowledge how much has been done.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Legislature is already appropriating more than what agencies including the Children, Youth and Families Department can spend on early childhood, he counters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSpending wisely, economically and efficiently\u201d should be the goal, he insists.<\/p>\n<p>He has no plans to step aside, health and elections permitting. Smalley, the cigar-chomping senator from Deming who was Smith\u2019s patron and mentor, served for more than three decades and didn\u2019t quit until he was 85 years old.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was schooled by a good doctor that said, \u2018You know, hard work has killed damn few, but lack of work has killed a lot more,\u2019\u201d Smith said. \u201cMy attitude is, I\u2019m planning on working until my last day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carruthers advises against laying too much credit or blame on any one elected official.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is a way to overcome any single state representative\u2019s attitude on any bill,\u201d he says. \u201cIt is a majority vote.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-526596 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/SLNM-JAS-Chart-771x564.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"771\" height=\"564\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/SLNM-JAS-Chart-771x564.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/SLNM-JAS-Chart-336x246.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/SLNM-JAS-Chart-768x561.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/SLNM-JAS-Chart-1170x855.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/SLNM-JAS-Chart.jpg 1692w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Family tragedy shaped John Arthur Smith\u2019s boyhood and set in motion a personal mantra that would inform every decision he makes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":526593,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[234,3646,146,107],"class_list":["post-522683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-children","tag-john-arthur-smith","tag-poverty","tag-roundhouse","series-raising-new-mexico"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522683","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=522683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522683\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}