At the Roundhouse: Counting noses

The big hopes of early childhood education advocates — constitutional amendment proposals to get more program money by increasing the take from the Land Grant Permanent Fund  – now lie in John Arthur Smith country.

Smith, a Democrat from Deming, fiscal conservative and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, doesn’t think any principal drawdown should exceed 5 percent a year — or at least that was the case the last time I talked to him.

Both a House and Senate proposal would increase the Land Grant Permanent Fund yield from 5.5 to 6.5 percent.

Smith told me that foundations and endowments he is familiar with think it prudent to keep yields under 5 percent.

The Senate Finance Committee has six Democratic and four Republican members. It would take only one Democrat to side with Republicans to keep a bill on the table on a tie vote.

Republicans, like Smith, are not keen on the increased withdrawal plan, arguing it would push down yields in the future by reducing the earnings-producing principal.

Is the Senate Finance Committee the end of the road for the early childhood education push?

Will  supporters try to bring the constitutional amendment plan to the floor, where it might have a better chance with all 42 members voting?

 Stay tuned.  Journal staff writer James Monteleone is following the action.

Skandera tie, too? The Senate Rules Committee, where the nomination of education-secretary designate Hanna Skandera has been hung up, is another committee with six Democrats and four Republicans.

Republicans, of course, are supporting the nominee of Gov. Susana Martinez.

The only Democrat on the committee who sounded in any way sympathetic to Skandera during Saturday’s Round 3 of confirmation hearing was Sen. Clemente Sanchez, D-Grants.

Is the prospect of a 5-to-5 tie, and Democrats not being able to shoot down the nomination outright, one of the hang ups in the committee?

Is this another stalled measure supporters might try to “blast” out of committee and bring to the Senate floor, where they think they have a better chance of passage?

Would the inability of the committee to make up its mind — on a tie vote or otherwise — fan the flames for a floor vote?

Again, stay tuned, Journal Capitol Bureau reporter Dan Boyd has been following this one.

House challenge: Hats off to longtime House Chief Clerk Steve Arias and his capable staff, who are in charge of record-keeping and just about everything else in the 70-member chamber.

Assistant editor Steve Williams and I  had to wrestle with publication of  a House roll call vote for the first time last night. I was quickly reminded that 2012 elections did nothing to simplify the membership list.

Among the 70 members, there are two named Gallegos, three named Garcia, two named Martinez, two named Salazar and three named Trujillo.

There also is a Cook and a Crook. To say nothing of Sharon Clahchischilliage.