The Roundup in Santa Fe. Post file photo
The Santa Fe New Mexican:
House passed ed bills: The state House passed three major education-related measures Friday, two of them unanimously.
House Bill 30, which has sponsors from both parties, would raise the minimum stipends for aspiring teacher residents to $35,000 for undergrads and $44,000 for those who have bachelor’s degrees, according to a news release from House Democrats.
House Joint Resolution 1, which also advanced unanimously, will, if it passes the Senate, put a question on the November ballot asking if voters want to “create nominating committees to select regent candidates for the state’s educational institutions,” the release states.
House Bill 8, which passed on a 45-23 vote, would create a Higher Education Major Projects Fund to fund an expansion of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine as well as “a mixed-use humanities building at NMSU, and student life and housing projects statewide,” the news release states.
“As higher education enrollment continues to climb in New Mexico and capital projects are becoming harder to support, it’s critically important that these institutions are fully equipped to house and serve our students,” lead sponsor Rep. Anita Gonzales, D-Las Vegas, said in a statement.
Session changes advance: The House Judiciary Committee on Saturday unanimously approved two measures that, if approved by voters, would amend the New Mexico Constitution to overhaul the way the Legislature does business.
House Joint Resolution 6 would get rid of the current system where the Legislature meets for 60 days in odd-numbered years and 30 days in even ones, making sessions 45 days long every year as well as expanding lawmakers’ ability to override gubernatorial vetoes. And HJR 7 would get rid of the restrictions in the state constitution on bills lawmakers can consider during even-numbered years — currently, they are limited to passing a budget plus whatever bills the governor says they can consider.
Both resolutions are being sponsored by Reps. Matthew McQueen, D-Galisteo and Rod Montoya, R-Farmington.
Quotes of the day: “Tell your senators in the Senate, if you’re a Republican, you better keep talking for days. You better put on a diaper and keep talking because that’s what I do in the House.” — Rep. John Block, R-Alamogordo, speaking at a rally Saturday morning urging senators to filibuster Senate Bill 17. The bill would increase regulations on gun dealers and ban gas-powered semiautomatic weapons, including rifles like the AK-47 and AR-15.
“There are people who get scared of guns and they lose bodily function, and it’s really unhygienic to have guns out in the open.” —Senate Minority Leader Bill Sharer, R-Farmington, during the debate over SB 17, discussing how people’s attitudes toward open versus concealed carry of handguns has changed from the early 1900s to today. The bill passed the Senate on a 21-17 vote Saturday and now heads to the House.