Welcome to the Legislative Roundup, your update on the most important news from the Legislature

Senate Debates for Four-Plus Hours, Passes Paid Family Medical Leave Bill

Right around the time the clock struck 11 p.m., the Senate passed Senate Bill 3, the Paid Family and Medical Leave Act, by a vote of 25-15. Only one Democrat, Sen. George Muñoz (D-Cibola, McKinley and San Juan) voted with the Republicans in opposition to the bill.

Republicans debated for four-plus hours, pointing out what they saw as flaws in the bill.

SB 3 is sponsored in the Senate by Senate President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart (D-Bernalillo). She and Sen. Joseph Cervantes (D-Doña Ana) offered a series of amendments, saying these were made after negotiations with "business organizations." For the record, they did not negotiate with us, and we're told no other business organization was involved in the development of these amendments. 

Moreover, the amendments do not address the two main problems we have with the bill and have consistently articulated in both the last session and this one. First, this is a quarter-billion-dollar tax increase on employees and employers. This adds another layer of costs on small businesses already struggling to recover from the pandemic and high inflation. Second, the length of leave - generally 12 weeks (one fourth of the year!) - is both too long and granted for reasons way beyond maternity leave or serious medical conditions. 

There is already a labor shortage in the state; New Mexico has the lowest labor participation rate in the nation. Employers struggle now to fill positions - they cannot possibly find temporary replacements to cover for absent employees. Skilled nurses, plumbers, electricians, computer programmers and hosts of other professionals just aren't available. So, what will happen is small businesses will lose work, burn out their remaining employees with overtime or possibly just be forced to close up shop. And under SB 3 employers and employees are forced to participate whether they want this kind of "insurance" or not. Many workers would much rather have the extra cash to help make ends meet.

The amendments made on the floor of the Senate tonight do not deal with the central issues of increased taxes and inability of small businesses to cover for extended employee absences. Here's a recap of what the amendments did:

1. Keeps leave time at12 weeks for child-related events (birth, adoption, death of child, etc.), , for the first two years of the program "safe leave" and serious medical events are limited to nine weeks. After two years, 12 weeks would be available for all events provided the benefits fund is actuarially sound. The bill does not say what happens if the fund isn't sound. 
2. Changes the advisory board to assist the secretary of Workforce Solutions in designing the program from 16 to eight - four employee representatives and four employer representatives all appointed by the secretary. This is a step in the right direction, but it doesn't guarantee small-business people will be on the board.
3. Requires temporary employee agencies to make employer contributions on behalf of temporary employees.
4. Removes "family member with a serious medical condition" from the section that mostly deals with child-related events and makes that section focused only on child-related events.
5. Adds back a family member in another section so leave can be taken for family members with serious medical conditions.
6. Removes the "affinity" language to describe a relationship with a non-family member is out but keeps "any other individual whose close association with the employee or employee's spouse or domestic partner is the equivalent of a family relationship."
7. Eliminates the provision to allow leave prior to entering active military service. Our belief is other laws address military service. 
8. Raises the required benefits fund balance from 135% of previous years paid benefits to 140% of paid benefits in previous year. This is designed to help ensure fund solvency.
9. Requires 20-day notice to the employer prior to leave or as soon as possible (for events that can't be planned like a serious accident). Unlike previous versions of the bill, this bill allows taking leave in hourly increments - previously employees had to take leave in 8-hour increments.
10. Requires employees to work 180 days for the same employer before being leave eligible - increased from 90 days.

One bright spot in this: Through the hours of debate we watched, the tone was passionate but professional. Kudos to all, especially the Republican senators and Muñoz who pleaded the case of our businesses - the state's job creators. SB 3 now goes to the House for consideration, where the Chamber will continue our strong opposition to it (as well as to HB 6, the House version). A lesson we've learned over the years is that it's usually impossible to amend a bad bill - you just can't make it better. This is so true with SB 3. Nibbling at the edge with small amendments doesn't fix the flawed core provisions of the bill. If enacted, SB3 will hurt many small businesses in New Mexico. 

In Committees

DWI/Drugged-Driving Heads to Senate Floor

Early this evening the Senate Judiciary voted 5-0 to advance a measure to codify drugged driving into the state’s DWI law.

Senate Bill 190, short title DWI Act, has bipartisan, bicameral support. It’s sponsored by Sens. Daniel A. Ivey-Soto (D-Bernalillo) and Minority Whip Craig W. Brandt (R-Sandoval) and Reps. Dayan Hochman-Vigil (D-Bernalillo), Andrea Reeb (R-Chaves, Curry and Roosevelt) and William "Bill" R. Rehm (R-Bernalillo).

And while some concerns had been raised about the 92-page bill, which tackles numerous sections of state law regarding DWI in order to streamline and update them, on Friday evening there was zero opposition voiced, and agencies from the New Mexico Department of Transportation and the Motor Vehicle Division, to the New Mexico State Police and Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, to the state District Attorneys Association and the N.M. Office of the Public Defender, stood up to commend the amount of collaboration that has gone into improving SB 190 since it was introduced. 

Of note: When the bill was presented in Senate Health and Public Affairs, Chief Public Defender Bennett Baur announced he had "enthusiastically and affirmatively taken no position." Friday he said that while he appreciated all the cooperation that has gone into updating the bill, he was now “less enthusiastically neutral” than he had been with the original draft.

Chamber Executive Vice President D’Val Westphal testified that SB 190 strikes the right balance, saying:

"While (the bill) addresses the core issues of penalties, repeat violations, blood screening, license revocation and ignition interlocks, it also wisely provides for treatment if approved by the court, and counseling and treatment to those in custody. It also includes a penalty for driving under the influence with a teen minor in the vehicle, helping to protect our children. NMDOT says last year 37 percent of deadly crashes were alcohol-related. There’s no telling how many were drug-related. But we do know it’s a problem SB190 can help change."

SB 190 now heads to the Senate floor and could be heard as early as Saturday.

Liquor Tax Increases - Not This Year

As you may recall, on Wednesday, the House Taxation and Revenue Committee began deliberation on two different liquor excise tax bills. The first, House Bill 179, sponsored by Rep. Joann Ferrary (D-Doña Ana) and Sen. Antonette Sedillo Lopez (D-Bernalillo) would have imposed massive tax increases raising some $125 million in new revenue to be used for prevention, treatment and recovery programs. Public testimony and committee discussion was completed on Wednesday.

An alternative bill, HB 213, sponsored by Rep. Micaela Cadena (D-Doña Ana), Derrick Lente (D-Rio Arriba, Sandoval and San Juan), Cristina Parajón (D-Bernalillo), and Joshua Hernandez (R-Sandoval), sought no tax increase but rather redirected current liquor excise tax revenues to prevention, treatment and recovery programs. Currently, one half of these $50 million revenues go to the general fund, contrary to the original intent of the tax, which was support for programs dealing with the harms of alcohol abuse. The bill also sought to move the point of taxation from the wholesale (distributor) level to the retail level (at point of sale to consumers). 

On Wednesday, the committee heard public testimony but committee discussion was postponed until today. Based on comments from committee members, there seems to be agreement that the diversion of excise tax revenues to the general fund should end and all the money dedicated to programs. Less certain is moving the point of tax collection. Concern was expressed about unintended consequences and, we suspect based on public testimony, part of that concern is about auditing collections and the implementation difficulties that might be experienced by merchants. Cadena was amenable to having her measure receive further discussion and study during the interim. She acknowledged there is more work to be done and that she wanted to present this alternative to enrich further conversation.

Ferrary, on the other hand, asked for the committee to vote on her proposal as she feels her approach has received two years of interim study. The committee voted down a Do Pass motion by a vote of 4 in favor, 10 opposed. 

A 30-day session is not a good forum for sorting complex legislation. It's appropriate to give this topic more scrutiny and bring back a refined proposal in the 60-day session. All parties involved acknowledge that New Mexico has an alcohol-abuse problem: We lead the nation in alcohol-related deaths. Driving under the influence, partner and child abuse, sickness and lost wage hours are all outcomes of substance abuse, including alcohol. How to best tackle this problem and provide an appropriate level of funding are the big, unanswered questions. We hope the interim process brings back a practical bill that we all can support.

On the House Floor

Can We GRO Government in a Smarter Way?

Every taxpayer in the state wants the government to be efficient, responsible and accountable for producing the promised results of various services and programs. As the saying goes, "Get the maximum bang for the buck." Legislators want the same thing - which is the purpose behind HB 196, sponsored by House Appropriations and Finance Chair Nathan Small (D-Doña Ana), which passed the House today by a vote of 39-28.

Background

In a nutshell, the bill is a unique (maybe one of its kind) attempt by a Legislature to vet proposed programs or services via pilot programs before they are embedded, or "baked-in," to agency budgets. Admittedly, once baked in, you can't undo the cake. The idea is to set aside funds in an "expendable trust" to be awarded to promising projects over the next three years. The trust is called the "Government Results and Opportunity Expendable Trust" or GRO for short. 

Initially, $216 million would be expended over the first three years - $100.8 million on "grow projects" that derive from legislator initiated projects in their districts (money appropriated in last year's "junior" appropriations bill) and about $115 million in 16 selected projects (we'll know what these are when we see the latest version of the budget). Some of the pilot programs were requested by the executive branch but most were initiated by the Legislature. 

Also, about $500 million would be placed in the GRO fund for subsequent appropriation for additional projects or to be used as part of the state's reserve. Some amount of excess revenues from the general fund would be diverted to the GRO fund instead of the rainy day fund, which requires a declaration of emergency and 2/3 vote of each chamber to utilize. 

The concept is not to create a separate permanent fund but rather to build a short-term pot of money to go after solving poor agency performance - CYFD and public education are often cited as agencies that need a major performance intervention. Another provision of the bill calls for a major updating of the Government Accountability Act, which establishes agency performance measures. This act hasn't been touched for more than 20 years.

Who Could Oppose This?

Sounds like a cool and innovative idea, right? Most legislators like the concept - what some don't like is the way the bill was changed from the originally introduced bill - which reflected work done by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) over the interim - to the way it was amended in the House Appropriations and Finance Committee. In the original bill there was a section that very specifically described how pilot programs would be proposed, evaluated, monitored and decided upon. The idea was to strive for evidence-based criteria and measurements. That language was exorcised from the bill. Why?

It seems the ship hit the rocks when the member "grow projects" were added to HB 2 by the Senate Finance Committee (remember, we're reporting what we heard in debate, HB 2 Senate version isn't available for public inspection yet). Councils of Governments (local government support agencies) couldn't handle the evaluation criteria specified in the original bill so the requirements were chucked overboard. 

Amendment Proposed

Rep. Gail Armstrong (R-Catron, Sierra, Soccoro and Valencia), the ranking member of HAFC, proposed to add the specific evaluation criteria back into the bill. That amendment was tabled by voice vote. Later, the question was asked whether the amendment would be acceptable if the COGs were excluded from the evaluation criteria. There wasn't a clear answer, but it seems like it's an issue to which the Senate Finance Committee should give serious consideration when it hears the bill. In our view, these evaluation criteria were very strong and meaningful. They are what made HB 196 innovative and forward thinking. Without them, as Rep. Larry Scott (R-Lea) observed, this becomes just another appropriations bill. Some truth in that. It's often said that a camel is a horse designed by a committee. We see some big bumps growing on the back of HB 196.

On the Senate Floor

Officer Recruitment Funding Picks Up Speed

Senate Bill 175 is sponsored by Sen. Joseph Jaramillo (D-Los Alamos, Rio Arriba, Sandoval and Santa Fe), who explained the simple bill funds the recruitment of state and local law enforcement officers, correctional officers, and probation and parole officers across New Mexico. The bill language also calls on the Department of Finance and Administration to establish criteria for distributing these funds to law enforcement agencies and other entities across the state.

The bill originally contained an appropriation of $35 million to carry this out, but it was stripped in Senate Finance, per procedure. When Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino (D-Bernalillo) asked if there was money in the budget for this, Jaramillo said yes – but “in the ballpark” of just $25 million. (Ouch – a little low, but we’ll take it!)

Concerned Republicans asked how this funding might address the trend of law enforcement agencies “poaching” officers from each other. Currently, too few officers statewide means police departments are just trading vacancies. Jaramillo said this recruitment funding would be used for recruitment generally, without regard for whether the officer is coming from out-of-state or from within New Mexico – but also to recruit newcomers to the system, like students completing criminal justice degree programs as well as new and experienced officers of all kinds.

Bottom line? We need more law enforcement officers, and this bill will help find them. SB 175l passed 39-0 and goes to the House next.

Scholarship Flexibility Crosses Chambers

Senate Bill 239 makes important updates to the Legislative Lottery and Opportunity Scholarships to ensure these programs serve students as well as they can. It passed the Senate on a 30-5 vote this afternoon.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Siah Correa Hemphill (D-Catron, Grant and Socorro) and George Muñoz (D-Cibola, McKinley and San Juan), makes important clarifications to some definitions, like counting credit requirements on a per-year basis instead of per-semester, and making summer semesters eligible for scholarship coverage. SB 239 also ties the new maximum distribution for the Opportunity Scholarship to inflation and allows high school students to earn college credit through dual enrollment without those credits counting toward the maximum covered by these programs.

The updates saw very little debate or comment and got off the floor in under five minutes. In closing, Muñoz said, “How do we get more graduates? You allow them flexibility.”

The bill passed the Senate 30-5. Sens. Cliff Pirtle (R-Chaves, Eddy and Otero), Gregg Schmedes (R- Bernalillo, Sandoval, Santa Fe and Torrance), Mark Moores (R-Bernalillo), David Gallegos (R-Eddy and Lea), and Steven McCutcheon (R-Chaves, Eddy and Lea) voted against the bill, though they did not express any concern or opposition during debate or explain their vote after the fact. SB 239 is now headed to the House.

Around the Roundhouse

Former State Rep. Lenton Malry, center, is recognized for his leadership in New Mexico as part of African American Day

Honoring a Trailblazer

As part of African American Day at the Roundhouse, a very special guest was honored in both chambers. Lenton Malry, who served as New Mexico's first African American state representative, visited the state Capitol with his family today to be recognized for his barrier-breaking leadership.

Malry ran for office and won in 1969 and was re-elected for four more terms, serving until 1979. He helped New Mexico take its first steps in early childhood education, introducing House Bill 360 in 1973 to bring kindergarten to the state.

He was joined on the rostrum by his wife, Dr. Joy Malry; his son, Lenton Malry Jr., deputy secretary at the Department of Workforce Solutions; and Nicole Rogers, the city of Albuquerque’s first Black city councilor. His list of accomplishments reflect a life well lived while making many, many friends along the way.

Attempt to Blast CYFD Bill out of Committee Fails

As the time ticks down on the 2024 legislative session, lawmakers are getting frustrated about the bills that never made it out of the starting gate. During this afternoon’s Senate floor session, Sen. Cliff Pirtle (R-Chaves, Eddy and Otero) moved to “blast” a bill from where it’s being held in the Senate Committees Committee with other bills not ruled germane or messaged. Senate Bill 258 proposes changes to how CYFD can share information relating to child abuse and neglect – Pirtle argued it was too important for transparency in our broken child well-being agency to languish there, and said it should go to the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee to be acted on.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Katy Duhigg (D-Bernalillo) agreed the bill urgently needed to be heard, but Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart (D-Bernalillo) said the bill wasn’t germane and there wasn’t a rush. “We’ve got another 10 months, we can wait,” she said.

The motion to send the bill to committee died on a close 19-22 vote, with all of the votes against hearing the bill coming from Democratic members. Oftentimes, attempts to “blast” a bill out of a committee go down with much greater margins because members believe it’s important to follow procedure. This narrow defeat shows just how strongly many senators feel about fixing CYFD - but unfortunately not enough of them to get it into committee meetings.

House Wins!

After a long victory drought, the House put the big hurt on the Senate in the annual Hoops for Hope charity basketball game Thursday night. Proceeds go to cancer research at UNM. The victory margin was 12 points. This afternoon during the first Senate floor session, a House delegation successfully retrieved the trophy from the Senate -- accompanied by "The Imperial March" (Darth Vader's Theme) from "Star Wars."

Signing Off from Santa Fe

As we say good night until tomorrow -- yes both the House and Senate are in session in committees and on their chamber floors Saturday -- we'll bring you updates on the state budget (job No. 1 during a short session), prescription drug price transparency, school board training, juvenile firearms records and more, more, more as the clock ticks down to noon Feb. 16.

Until tomorrow, sleep well for us and the dedicated folks in the Roundhouse who can't!

The Legislative Roundup, published during the New Mexico Legislative Session by the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, provides information on local and state public policy and business issues that affect you.

For questions, please email D'Val Westphal at dwestphal@greaterabq.com.