From the Roundhouse: The Compromise Session?
I’ve talked about compromise before on this blog, but nowhere was it more evident than today at the Roundhouse. A tough committee process saw Rep. Miguel Garcia, D-Albuquerque, amend his gun-show...
View ArticleFrom the Roundhouse: Sweat the Small Stuff
A warning to readers… The contents of this blog are truly inside baseball. But if you can get through the process stuff, you’ll see how a small move can indicate a larger theme. That small move...
View ArticleFrom the Roundhouse: Freshman hazing
There are 35 new lawmakers this year in Santa Fe, the most fresh faces in the 112 member Legislature in decades. Not all of them are truly new. Sen. Bill O’Neill, D-Albuquerque, was a state...
View ArticleKnipfing’s Notes: NM House has ’4M’ Week
Here’s another good thing about New Mexico: it’s easy to be heard. That thought comes to mind because this was a “4M” week at the legislature: Major Movement on Major Measures. The House passed a...
View Article“Friendly” Amendment
Every bill brought forward in Santa Fe starts with an idea, an intention that lawmaker had to mold state policy or spending. But often times in the Roundhouse, that bill gets amended to the point that...
View ArticleFrom the Roundhouse: Out and About
Because of the gun buyback story in Santa Fe, I was away from the Roundhouse for much of the day. Here are some highlights from Wednesday: The “Breaking Bad” bill passed the House unanimously. Rep. Moe...
View ArticleFrom the Roundhouse: Déjà Vu
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Rep. Mary Helen Garcia, D-Las Cruces, votes to effectively kill a Democrat-backed constitutional amendment, and a pack of freshman Dems defy the old guard on...
View ArticleFrom the Roundhouse: Tick Tick Tick
“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” – Cyril Northcote Parkinson That quote may best sum up the legislative process at the Roundhouse. As Friday comes to a close, we have...
View ArticleFrom the Roundhouse: Work and Pork
Monday morning, Democrats championed a deal with Republicans and Governor Martinez on a nearly $125 million capital outlay spending package. Although the Governor’s office says they still need to...
View ArticleFrom the Roundhouse: Negative Space
Sometimes in the Roundhouse you can tell just as much from what lawmakers don’t do than from what they do get done. A Democrat-proposed state health insurance exchange that’s a key part of the...
View ArticleFrom the Roundhouse: Counter Intuitive
The legislative session brings many little wrinkles with it. Party lines force some individual lawmakers to vote against their conscience to toe the line. But sometimes a “no” vote is the only way to...
View ArticleLawmakers consider projects, jobs
The New Mexico Senate is looking at a bill that would finance nearly $174 million in capital spending while creating jobs along the way. The House approved the measure yesterday. If approved by both...
View ArticleFrom the Capitol: Roundhouse Roundball
As we come down the stretch of the legislative session the nights get longer in the Roundhouse, the fights get more bitter and the rubber hits the road. There’s less time for delays on major issues....
View ArticleWater crisis could jeapordize chile crop
The state’s water crisis is causing some concern that Chile crops could be in jeopardy. State lawmakers say with many of our reservoirs low – some already empty – they are very concerned about farming...
View ArticleFrom the Roundhouse: A 2014 Vote
Votes in the 2013 session can sometimes be made with an eye on 2014. That appears to be the case on a statewide minimum wage hike on the Senate floor that was the talk of the day Monday. SB 416 would...
View ArticleFrom the Roundhouse: Packed
Arguably the most important person in the Roundhouse Tuesday wasn’t the Governor Martinez, House Speaker Ken Martinez or Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez. For one day and one day only, the...
View ArticleFrom the Roundhouse: Call of the House
Today we saw a dramatic move in the House to try and move the driver’s license issue forward through a procedure known as a call of the House. This is a rare process where all 70 members of the House...
View ArticleFrom the Roundhouse: Conflict and Resolution
With time running short in the session, the timeline to get things done shortens. That applies to House-Senate feuds as much as bills. The set-up for Thursday’s blowup may have come from a few sources....
View ArticleFrom the Roundhouse: Two Deadlines
Monday we saw the pace pick up in Santa Fe as bills both large and small (mostly small) made their way to the fourth floor to face the wrath of the Governor’s veto pen or into the next chamber. That...
View ArticleFrom the Roundhouse: No-Win Situation
Who wins when everybody loses? It’s the question many may be asking when this session wraps up because when all is said and done, you may find neither side got much of anything they wanted this year....
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