With the help of a vigorous digital campaign that includes social media posts and the launch of a dedicated website and Facebook page, Republican state lawmakers are pushing hard for an "Extraordinary Session of the New Mexico Legislature with a single goal: To pass legislation limiting the governor's emergency powers," according to NMExtraordinarySession.com.
The House GOP is disillusioned by "Grisham’s excessive emergency power during COVID 19," according to the website, and wants clarity on Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's intentions for the federal aid sent to New Mexico for coronavirus relief, as reported by KOB4.
Lawmakers agreed in the last regular legislative session that the $1.75 billion should go into the state's depleted unemployment insurance trust fund.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham
| governor.state.nm.us
"That is going to be critical to employers all across New Mexico because their unemployment rates are going to skyrocket with the influence of the pandemic data being put in,” New Mexico state Rep. Jim Townsend (R-Artesia) said at the time, according to KOB4.
But Lujan Grisham pushed back with a veto, saying that the state has received no guidance about how to spend the money and, besides, it's the executive branch's – not the legislature's – responsibility, Nora Meyers Sackett, Grisham's spokesperson, said in a widely published statement earlier this week.
"The governor has talked to all legislative leadership, including the Republican leadership, about some aspects of the federal spending she plans to prioritize," Sackett said. "Information on the administration's plans for the federal funds will be coming soon and we look forward to allocating them to effective and impactful use benefitting New Mexicans across the state. Replenishing and strengthening the UI (unemployment insurance) fund remains a priority."
State Rep. Stefani Lord (R-Santa Fe) summed up the GOP's position in her Facebook post, also earlier this week.
"We are asking for transparency, is that too much to ask?" Lord wrote.
Meanwhile, the Extraordinary Session website includes an email address for lawmakers wanting to get on board.
"As legislators, we believe the governor’s actions and authority must be reined in to provide relief to our citizens who are desperate, angry and suffering," the site says. "We believe that the best way to help the people of New Mexico AND to avoid civil unrest is to hold an Extraordinary Session of the New Mexico Legislature."
An emergency session requires three-fifths of both chambers: 42 House representatives and 26 senators. So far, only 22 representatives and eight senators have signed the pledge, according to the website, which also encourages New Mexicans to contact their lawmakers about the pledge.
More will need to be convinced, Townsend told KOB4.
“I'm pretty sure 24 in the House will sign on pretty quick," he said. "We'll have to get the balance of them to sign on but there are a number of members on the majority side that I have talked to, that believe the process the governor is using is erroneous, is not transparent, is not what is right, whether or not they will sign on or not, I don’t know for sure."
House Speaker Brian Egolf (D-Santa Fe) said the state legislature and the governor's office should work things out without an extraordinary session, according to KOB4.
"We don't need to fight on this," Egolf said. "Both sides of the legislature can have robust conversations with the governor on how to spend these dollars."