The Legislature: Lots to Weigh

SANTA FE – The legislative session begins Tuesday, and crafting a $5.9 billion state budget for the year that begins July 1 is the biggest task facing lawmakers. But they will deal with a variety of other issues as well. It’s a 60-day session with a wide-open agenda: Legislators can introduce as many bills as they want on whatever subjects they choose. And Gov. Susana Martinez, midway through her four-year term, will have her own list of priorities. Here’s a look at just some of the legislation that’s expected to be introduced – and that Journal reporters will be following over the next couple of months.

CRIME

There’s a new proposal to require background checks for those who buy guns privately or at gun shows. The governor wants to revisit tougher sanctions for repeat drunken drivers, statewide DWI vehicle seizures, criminal history checks on relatives who take in children, and expanded Amber Alert use. Also on the agenda: strengthening child abuse penalties, tightening registration requirements for out-of-state sex offenders, adding the homeless to the hate crimes law, annulling parental rights of rapists, updating prostitution laws, and banning texting while driving.

EDUCATION

A coalition is renewing its push for a constitutional amendment digging deeper into the earnings of the Land Grant Permanent Fund to pay for early-childhood programs. The governor will keep trying for mandatory retention of third-graders who can’t read proficiently; she wants $13.5 million for reading intervention. She proposes to create an early-warning system for dropouts, and wants to link teachers’ pay to a new evaluation system — although critics want to jettison that system. Lawmakers will weigh changes in eligibility for the lottery-funded college scholarship program to keep it out of the red.

ELECTIONS

New Mexico needs to tweak its public financing law for candidates for appellate-level courts and for the Public Regulation Commission, to align with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that precludes matching funds based on opponents’ spending. Lawmakers will also be asked to tighten the reins on so-called independent expenditure committees, including more frequent and detailed reporting. Problems with the validity of signatures on nominating petitions in the 2012 primary election prompted a proposal that those who collect voters’ signatures be required to sign the petitions, so problems can be traced.

ETHICS

Lawmakers could not get reimbursement from more than one entity for the same travel-related costs under a new proposal. Legislators will again be asked to provide for longer sentences for corrupt public officials and to ban them from lobbying or contracting with public entities. Open-government advocates want public meeting agendas 72 hours in advance, instead of 24. The governor is seeking legislation to ensure the state would not have to pick up the tab to defend a public official who is sued by the state. And she wants public officials convicted of crimes to be removed from office immediately.

GOVERNMENT

On the heels of voter-approved constitutional changes to the Public Regulation Commission, lawmakers must set qualifications for commissioners, shift corporation-related duties to the secretary of state, and set up an independent insurance office. There’s also a move to limit PRC oversight of transportation. The governor wants to overhaul funding of the unemployment insurance system, and will push again for more clout in banning fireworks. Lawmakers will consider whether redistricting should be done by a commission, and whether the Finance Authority should undergo more structural and budget changes.

HEALTH

The Martinez administration averted a showdown with the Legislature by deciding to accept federal funds to significantly expand the Medicaid program as a way to provide health insurance required under Obamacare. But there could be a dust-up over the health insurance exchange, a Web-based marketplace for consumers that is required under federal law. The administration insists it can create the exchange administratively under the existing Health Insurance Alliance law; legislators say the law must be changed and they want input into how the exchange is organized and governed.

IMIGRATION

The governor hasn’t given up on her quest to repeal the law that allows illegal immigrants to get driver’s licenses, although the effort has been stymied for the past two years. She and her political allies made it a campaign issue in legislative races and may have picked up some support. Senate Democrats are again expected to counter with a bill tightening the law but not repealing it. Some lawmakers support a two-tiered license system, or special permits. A new twist: what to do about young illegal immigrants who qualify for President Barack Obama’s program that authorizes them to work and defers deportation.

PUBLIC EMPLOYEES

The GOP governor and Democratic legislative leaders disagree over pay hikes for public workers. Lawmakers propose a 1 percent salary increase — the first since 2008 — and 3 percent for State Police. The governor says helping businesses is the priority. Legislators must decide how to shore up pension plans for public employees and teachers — reducing benefits, increasing contributions, restricting eligibility, for example. Employees will monitor the scheduled expiration of a budget-balancing measure regarding pension contributions; the end of it would mean more money in their paychecks.

SPACEPORT

The business community, the governor and other Spaceport America supporters want to limit the liability of spacecraft manufacturers and suppliers, arguing that New Mexico’s $200 million investment is at stake. They say the change is necessary to attract aerospace component suppliers to the complex where Virgin Galactic plans to fly passengers to space. Current law protects operators but not parts makers from lawsuits by passengers. The measure has been opposed by trial lawyers, who say it could jeopardize passenger safety by allowing parts manufacturers to operate recklessly.

TAXES

The GOP governor wants to lower the corporate income tax rate from 7.6 percent to 4.9 percent and enact a change to allow companies to calculate their corporate income taxes entirely on what they sell in New Mexico. She also proposes to give small businesses tax credits for workers they hire and retain, and to provide more money for job training tax incentives. A Democratic-backed bill she vetoed last year will re-emerge, perhaps as part of a broader tax overhaul package. It would have required big out-of-state corporations to combine earnings from all states and apply a formula to determine New Mexico’s share.