There have been some attempts to justify what’s happening in Santa Fe, but let’s look at some facts rarely discussed.
New Mexico’s two-party system is a misnomer.
Why? According to Ballotpedia, New Mexico has roughly 44 percent registered Democrats, 31 percent Republicans, and 22 percent Independents. This indicates a dlear Democrat majority, but how does that play out in the state legislature?
In both chambers, the Democrats enjoy roughly a 64 percent majority, much greater than registrations would indicate. They also have the governor’s office that largely dictates what legislation will be entertained – even in the 60-day session.
What does that mean? With one party control, there is less opportunity for robust debate or discussion on meaningful legislation. Instead, we have the governor’s agenda being carried out by those in her party – with or without participation by the minority party.
Our legislators are assigned to serve on certain committees and tasked with presenting their legislation to committees. They can’t be in two places at one time, but the Democrats serve in such high numbers, there are usually plenty of them to carry out the governor’s wishes. This allows them to coordinate their schedules, and then take care of whatever business they have without much concern for missed committees.
For Republicans, committee meetings can, and often do, go on without their voice. For example, in Senate Judiciary, the committee consists of six Democrats and three Republicans. The Chairman, Senator Cervantes, doesn’t need a single Republican present for a quorum and can carry on with his agenda. And he does.
On Friday, 2/17/23, both parties held afternoon Senate caucus meetings. When the Democrats completed their meeting, they went to Senate Judiciary and discussed critical bills. There was no ‘debate’ on the merits of the legislation because all the Democrats were united and passed the legislation without a single Republican being in the room. There was also no consideration for those wishing to speak online via the Zoom connection.
In other committees, some Chairs have stated they will continue hearing bills but will not take a vote until there is ‘adequate representation present’. That could mean hearings without quorums, but it can – and often is - subject to interpretation.
How does that impact New Mexicans? Bills are passing committees and third readings of the respective chamber floors without fair or adequate representation of the peoples’ needs and desires.
The governor promised she would do something about the out-of-control crime rate. Many sighed with relief. New Mexico is receiving U.S. wide recognition for our crime, and it is often rated among the highest in the nation.
But at the midpoint of the legislative session what has been done? Nothing worthwhile. We’ve had multiple bills introduced that would make meaningful strides in correcting the ridiculous ‘catch and release’ policy of the state. This has been a criminal’s dream because they are usually released to continue committing crimes and frequently escalate their antics.
For several years we’ve had numerous attempts to fix this bad law. None of these bills have passed.
What about the governor’s promise?
The Democrats are unilaterally killing most Republican crime bills. Some of those bills are being copied to be sponsored by a Democrat. To the public, we are sick of the petty games and want something meaningful done.
Instead of getting serious about crime, we’ve got an endless stream of bills to tell us if or how we can own or carry guns. The governor promised to have the strictest gun control in the nation. That’s great; how many criminals do you think will abide by that? And yet, if you take guns away from law abiding citizens who want to protect themselves, you make them sitting ducks for the criminals. And the criminals could care less what laws are passed – unless that law keeps them incarcerated and away from harming others.
We’ve seen horrifying bills that strip away parental rights while glorifying the taking of life. There are bills attempting to undermine any security of our election systems, codifying past questionable practices and adding even worse measures. Some legislators are attempting to register 'residents' to vote who may not be New Mexico citizens. And they also want to register people to vote without their knowledge or consent, allow 16-year-olds to vote, and restore felon voting rights prior to the completion of their sentence.
Then we’ve got the usual parade of bills to increase our taxes, continue to overregulate our businesses, and to destroy the oil and gas industry that funds our economy.
There is still plenty of time for good legislation to be passed and the nonsense to be stopped. But if this session ends the way it started or what we are seeing at the midpoint, New Mexicans will have no question about who is responsible.
We’re not interested in finger-pointing; we want real solutions. Let’s hope the governor and majority party make good decisions and that New Mexicans can be proud of the work that was accomplished in this 60-day session.
Carla J. Sonntag is the founder and CEO of Better Together New Mexico (BTNM), a statewide grassroots alliance creating important change in our state. Working together as a cohesive team, we are uniting, activating, and empowering all those who want to drive New Mexico to reach its full potential.