At the Roundhouse: APS Revisited

Just a week ago, I read a statement from at least one Albuquerque Public Schools board member that the redistricting of the board’s seven seats was complete.

I also read complaints from West Siders that population growth should have given them more representation than they got in the APS plan, approved 6-0 on Jan. 23, with one member absent.

Now, some folks at the Capitol apparently have remembered a provision of the state Constitution requiring the Legislature to approve redistricting of school districts with populations over 200,000 and seven-member boards.

Only one of the state’s 89 schools districts meets those terms: APS.

The constitutional provision is Article XII, Section 15.

“The school board member districts shall be established by resolution of the local school board with approval of the state Legislature…,” it says.

Two Albuquerque lawmakers, Rep. Antonio “Moe” Maestas and Sen. Bernadette Sanchez, both Democrats and West Side advocates, have introduced joint resolutions in the House and Senate dealing with that legislative approval.

The measures are HJR 27 and SJR 16. Neither had been heard as of Thursday night.

Could West Side objections to the APS redistricting be renewed in legislative debate?  We’ll see.

Bill count: Wednesday, Feb. 1, was the halfway point for the 30-day legislative session and the cutoff date for introduction of bills.

I count 373 bills introduced in the 70-member House, including so-called dummies.

I see 371 bills, including dummies, introduced in the 42-member Senate.

Dummies, by the way, are bills introduced only by title. The content can be substituted in later. Because of the cutoff date, dummies can be like having a couple of extra cards up your sleeve.

The House’s 373 bills compare with 292 in the last 30-day session, in 2010.

The Senate’s 371 compare with 280 in 2010.

Few of this year’s batches have moved along much.

So, past the halfway point, but still a long way to go.