The New Mexican:
Rally in the Rotunda: Immigrant rights groups gathered at the Roundhouse on Monday for a rally in support of a bill to expand the Working Families Tax Credit to immigrant families, a proposal to fund more wage theft investigators and an initiative that would require state agencies to keep residents’ personal information confidential.
Members of Santa Fe-based Somos un Pueblo Unido, Albuquerque-based El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos and the ACLU of New Mexico packed the Rotunda wearing yellow and green t-shirts, holding signs and cheering on speakers.
Rep. Javier Martinez , D-Albuquerque, told the audience he was pushing for the Legislature to pass two initiatives he is sponsoring — a tax credit bill as well as legislation that would tap more of the Land Grant Permanent Fund for early childhood education spending.
“We’re going to fight for what belongs to us,” he said in Spanish.
Meanwhile, Rep. Miguel Garcia , also an Albuquerque Democrat, urged supporters to demand Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham put the bill regarding confidential information on her agenda. House Bill 108, which Garcia is sponsoring, would prohibit state employees from disclosing “sensitive personal information” including immigration status to anyone outside their agencies.
“Go up to the 4th floor and tell the secretary that you want to talk to the governor,” Garcia told the crowd.
Paying pharmacists: A House panel on Monday advanced a bill that would require insurance companies to reimburse pharmacists who provide clinical services and prescribe medications. The measure cleared the House Health and Human Services Committee on a 5-2 vote.
Rep. Debbie Armstrong, D-Albuquerque, said pharmacists currently can be reimbursed for the cost of medication and for filling prescriptions but not for clinical and prescriptive services. Her proposal, House Bill 42, would change that.
Construction sharks: The House Commerce and Economic Development Committee on Monday heard testimony on legislation that Democrats say is meant to stop predatory real estate litigation.
House Bill 64, sponsored by state Reps. Daymon Ely, D-Corrales, and Day Hochman-Vigil, D-Albuquerque, would require more information from law firms that bring suits related to defective or unsafe conditions in homes.
Democrats argue that predatory law firms are charging exorbitant rates over homes built with defects, particularly in Albuquerque.
Money for infrastructure: The state will have $387 million at its disposal to divvy up for capital outlay projects during this legislative session, Sen. John Arthur Smith said at a Senate Finance Committee hearing.
The majority of those funds come from severance taxes and projects will be proposed by both the executive and legislative branches. A capital outlay bill has not yet been filed.
Looking ahead: Carlsbad resident Penny Au Coin, who the Sierra Club says was “showered by fracking water,” will speak at noon Tuesday at an Environment Day event at the Capitol.
Au Coin and her husband, Dee, were caught in a fracking water accident when a pipe burst near their home, according to the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club.
House Speaker Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, also is scheduled to speak on Tuesday with Sen. Liz Stefanics D-Cerrillos, and Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero, D-Albuquerque, on legislation dealing with solar energy projects, tax credits for rooftop solar panels and electric vehicles, plus a measure to offer energy-efficiency funding for low-income residents.
Quotes of the Day: “I don’t miss the process. It’s toxic.” — Former state Rep. Dennis Roch, R-Logan, reflecting on his 10 years in the Legislature. Roch, who didn’t seek reelection in 2018, recently was back at the Capitol during a convention of school superintendents. He heads the Logan Municipal Schools.
“If we’re in the middle of a beer, er, uh, bill … ” — Sen. Bill Soules, D-Las Cruces. He misspoke Monday while trying to explain that a committee hearing might abruptly end if members are called to the Senate floor.
“We can go down to the First (Judicial District Court) right now and I’ll let you watch them undress me as I walk in.” — Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto, D-Albuquerque, complaining during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to Chief Justice Judith Nakamura about being searched on the way into courthouses despite being an officer of the court.
