Roundhouse in Santa Fe. Post file photo
By Alaina Mencinger
The Santa Fe New Mexican
Supporters of a bipartisan bill to overhaul the New Mexico Game and Fish Department and State Game Commission questioned on Thursday the governor’s power to line-item veto a key provision, but they chose to tread carefully.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the majority of Senate Bill 5, which gives the agencies a broader mission to manage wildlife as well as new names: the Department of Wildlife and the Wildlife Commission.
But she struck a section of the bill creating a new removal process for Wildlife Commission members — and she vowed to kill the entire measure if her line-item veto was challenged.
The governor is only authorized to line-item veto provisions in bills appropriating funds.
Currently, the governor has the sole authority to appoint and remove Game Commission members. She argued the proposed provision, limiting the reasons for removing a member and creating a process for the action, would “cripple” the commission.
While the line-item veto wasn’t personal, she wrote in her veto message, her support of the bill was “contingent” on it.
“If this line-item is determined to be invalid or void by a court of law,” she wrote, “then my signature shall be null and void and this veto shall be interpreted to apply to SB5 as a whole.”
Lujan Grisham wrote in her executive message that “in the Legislature’s zeal to further weaken the chief official of a coordinate branch of the government, SB5 has spawned a serious problem that threatens to cripple the State Game commission.”
Jesse Deubel, executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, said in the past, commissioners have been removed for “purely political” reasons. Under the version of the bill approved by lawmakers, commissioners could only be removed for incompetence, neglect of duty or malfeasance, and would be given an opportunity for a hearing. A final decision on removal of a commissioner, made in state District Court, could be appealed to the New Mexico Supreme Court.
That “unnecessarily complicates and lengthens” the removal process, Lujan Grisham wrote, which could “paralyze” commission operations.
Last year, Lujan Grisham pocket-vetoed a similar measure that would have made changes to the State Game Commission.
Details of SB 5
During a news conference Thursday following the governor’s signing of SB 5, Deubel described the measure as a “holistic approach” to bring the department into the 21st century.
Along with changing the name of the department, the bill gives the agency the explicit authority to manage additional wildlife species.
“We’re really excited about all the things that are signed into law in this bill for wildlife. … This bill may provide the opportunity to work on additional species that are in decline in New Mexico,” Judy Calman, a policy director for Audubon Southwest, said at the news conference.
The bill also creates a committee to recommend nominees to serve on the newly named State Wildlife Commission, which would be made up of seven members with six-year terms, including a wildlife biologist or other scientist, a rancher or farmer, and a hunter or angler.
Additionally, the bill increases hunting and fishing license fees. Although the increases vary by license type, they range from $6 to $25 more per year for residents.
“The New Mexico Wildlife Federation is very, very pleased with so many of these fantastic provisions of the bill that are going to go into effect,” Deubel said at the news conference, adding, “90% of this bill is becoming law no matter what. We’re super excited about that.”
Deubel said the measure was the most significant piece of legislation affecting the Game and Fish Department since its founding.
Initially, Lujan Grisham seemed to agree. In her legislative message, she wrote that the bill “enacts substantial reforms” to the department, the commission and the state’s wildlife laws.
But she seemed to change her tune in a statement issued later.
“I recognize and appreciate the earnest efforts of those who hoped to achieve conservation and wildlife reforms at Game and Fish, but they did not accomplish that with this bill,” the governor said in the statement. “This bill as sent to me simply requires the legislature to provide names of prospective appointees that I can pick from. The reforms are not included in the bill.”
Advocates cautious
Advocates of SB 5 questioned whether the legislation was eligible for the governor’s line-item veto pen.
It includes some mention of money, namely increasing the price of hunting and fishing licenses, but a separate funding proposal included in the budget bill appropriates $10.5 million over the next three years for conservation work addressing the state’s species of greatest need.
In an email to The New Mexican, Governor’s Office spokesperson Michael Coleman wrote it was the per diem compensation for nominating committee members that made the legislation eligible for the line-item veto.
Committee members will serve on a volunteer basis but will be reimbursed for travel and other expenses.
Some also questioned whether the governor can threaten a veto of an entire bill should the line-item veto be struck.
“I personally question — and I’m not qualified to have an opinion — but I question the validity of that last statement in the veto,” Deubel said.
However, he backed away from saying the governor’s action would be challenged.
“I will say that we are, again, very excited about the portions of the bill that will become law. Now, we don’t want to see those jeopardized,” he said.
Calman said the coalition may continue pursuing a removal process for commissioners “at some point,” regardless of whether it comes as a challenge to the line-item veto.
“I don’t think that that fight is over for us, or that we will let that go, because it’s such a crucial part of this for us,” Calman said.