Here comes the judge: A bill that would add a judge to the First Judicial District Court, which covers Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Los Alamos counties, advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday evening.

First Judicial District Chief Judge Bryan Biedscheid said the judicial districts evaluated caseloads and decided the local district is in need of another judge.

Senate Bill 35 advanced with little discussion on a unanimous vote. It now heads to the Senate Finance Committee.

‘Produced water’ memorial tabled, may be back: The House Agriculture, Acequias and Water Resources Committee tabled House Memorial 45, a memorial in support of new statewide regulations around so-called “produced water,” during a hearing Thursday morning.

A years-long fight over produced water — a term used to describe a byproduct of oil and gas extraction — has cropped up repeatedly in the state Water Quality Control Commission, where appointed commissioners approved regulations last year prohibiting its reuse or discharge, holding scientific evidence presented during a year-and-a-half-long regulatory proceeding did not prove such reuse would be protective of human health.

Lobbyists and advocates spoke out Thursday during the hearing on the memorial, which is one of several produced water-related proposals before legislators in the current session. The memorial — sponsored by Rep. Joseph Sanchez, D-Alcalde — would “affirm the scientific evidence enabling the beneficial reuse of treated produced water and the importance of produced water.” It also notes a Taos County resident is developing “a petition for a rule allowing for the reuse of treated produced water for industrial uses and delivery to Texas” and asks “any hearings held in relation to the petition be held in Questa.”

Some legislators pointed out the petition in question was not provided to the committee and has not yet been submitted to the state commission.

“We haven’t seen the petition — we actually don’t know what we’re voting on,” said Rep. Martin Zamora, R-Clovis. “So how can we sit here and debate and talk for hours about something that we don’t know what it is?”

Rep. Kristina Ortez, D-Taos, the committee chair, said she intends to bring the memorial back before the committee.

Senator urges microgrid regulation push: Environmental advocates are lining up behind a bill to increase regulation of small electric networks used by entities such as data centers.

In a speech Thursday to a crowd assembled for Climate Solutions Day, Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, D-Albuquerque, urged them to call their representatives to voice support for Senate Bill 235. She said it would ensure data centers and other large industrial operations don’t set up “microgrids that are really macrogrids” and use “renewable energy that is really natural gas.”

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Wednesday authorized lawmakers to consider the bill during the 30-day session. Sponsored by Sedillo Lopez and Sen. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, the bill would require the Public Regulation Commission to begin rulemaking to require renewable energy use by microgrids.

It would also ban utilities from raising customers’ electricity bills to help pay for microgrids and require microgrids to submit reports detailing energy and water usage.

Pet food fee (or tax?): The Senate voted 23-15 Thursday to advance Senate Bill 38, which would get rid of the July sunset date on a law that imposes a yearly fee on pet food manufacturers for low-cost spay and neuter programs.

Many of the questions posed by Republican senators centered around the idea of the $100 fee being a tax — an argument made in an ongoing 2020 lawsuit by the Pet Food Institute and other organizations against Lujan Grisham and state agencies. The litigation, which is still pending, held up the funds until last year, when the state dispersed $1 million for spay and neuter programs.

Sen. Jay Block, R-Rio Rancho, proposed a substitute bill that would have given the pet food fee program a new sunset date in 2033. It failed on a party-line vote.

Quote of the day: “I wasn’t sure if the security out there was to help me in or to keep me out.” —Senate Minority Leader Bill Sharer, R-Farmington, at a bill-signing ceremony Thursday morning. “Depends on the day.” —Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.