The Roundhouse in Santa Fe. Post file photo
The New Mexican:
Water bill minus fracking water advances: A new version of the Strategic Water Supply Act advanced out of the House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee on a unanimous vote Saturday morning.
Backed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, House Bill 137 is aimed at finding new water sources for the state. It was amended to eliminate the most controversial portion, which would have encouraged the reuse of fracking wastewater. The current bill just encourages the reuse of naturally occurring salty water, or “brackish water” and includes a $75 million appropriation.
“The biggest problem facing our state is not the price of the oil in the world market,” sponsor Rep. Susan Herrera, D-Embudo, told the committee. “It’s not the production output in the Permian Basin. The biggest problem facing our state … is that there’s no snow on the mountains.
“When we see no snow on the mountains this time of year … there’s a reckoning that takes place,” she added.
Opponents thanked lawmakers for removing the fracking water but said there were still too many questions about the reuse of brackish water for the bill to move forward.
“New Mexico needs real water security strategies for the protection of our communities and our natural resources, not speculative projects that could create new risks,” said Seneca Johnson with Youth United for Climate Crisis Action, or YUCCA.
Oil, gas royalty hike clears Senate: A bill to raise the top oil and gas royalty rate on state lands from 20% to 25% passed the Senate on a 21-15 vote Saturday.
“There’s nothing wrong with increasing rates,” said sponsor Sen. George Muñoz, D-Gallup. “It’s not going to stop oil and gas. What it’s going to do is generate $1.3 billion more for the state of New Mexico.”
State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard, who supports Senate Bill 23, stopped leasing the state’s prime oil and gas tracts last year after the Legislature failed to pass an increase in royalty rates. Supporters say the bill is called for because New Mexico’s rates have not increased since the 1970s.
“Large, out-of-state companies have benefited from below-market royalty rates on New Mexico’s premium lands for far too long,” she said in a statement after the vote. “We should be doing everything we can to get maximum returns for our public resources on behalf of New Mexico’s school kids.”
Republicans debated against the bill at length, worrying it would drive producers out of the state and saying the Legislature has been treating the oil and gas industry “like a red-headed stepchild,” as Sen. Jay Block, R-Rio Rancho, put it.
“New Mexico has a poor track record of attacking the industry that feeds us, that fuels us, that educates us, that provides our infrastructure, that provides our Medicaid costs, and once again this state decides to go after them in a manner where they’re going to leave and they’re going to do operations across the line in Texas,” Block said. “… We’re hurting the small, independent producers more than anything.”
House, Senate approve amendments to big bills: On a voice vote, the House agreed Saturday to some Senate amendments to House Bill 8, meaning the omnibus anti-crime bill now heads to the governor’s desk.
Most of the changes were minor, said bill sponsor Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos. One substantive change was to the ban on “Glock switches,” or devices that can convert a semiautomatic firearm to fully automatic. The House version would have allowed for individual felony charges for each individual device; the Senate amended it so a single charge applies even if someone possesses several devices.
Another substantive change, Chandler said, was that the Senate eliminated a section that would have charged someone with aggravated drunken driving if they refuse a blood draw. The section that would allow police to seek warrants for blood draws in misdemeanor DWI cases remained.
Also on Saturday the Senate voted unanimously to approve the House’s amendments to Senate Bill 3, which would set up a system to draft region-specific plans to address local behavioral health needs. This bill also now heads to Lujan Grisham.
Free speech in focus: The House Judiciary Committee heard testimony but did not vote on an update to New Mexico’s press shield law and a law to limit lawsuits against people exercising their First Amendment rights, commonly known as an anti-SLAPP law.
House Bill 153, which is being sponsored by Rep. Sarah Silva, D-Las Cruces, would update New Mexico’s press shield law, which was passed in 1973 and limits the circumstances under which journalists can be compelled to disclose their sources. Silva’s proposal would update it for the internet age and new media, including expanding the definition of journalists and adding the internet, cellphones and other forms of communication that didn’t exist in 1973 to the act. It is being co-sponsored by House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, and Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, and was approved by the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee earlier this month.
The committee heard testimony from Charles Purcell, a lawyer and expert on the state’s shield law, but decided to put off the full hearing until Monday so the bill could be updated with some amendments.
“I think everyone will have a better understanding if everything is in one neat package as opposed to different pieces of paper,” said Chandler, the committee chair.
The committee also briefly heard some testimony on House Bill 169, or the Public Expression Protection Act. This would require courts to expedite lawsuits in cases where the defendant argues they are being sued for exercising their right to free speech and require courts to dismiss a lawsuit if the act applies.
“We urge you to support this bill, as we support anything that supports and provides First Amendment rights to our public,” said Brian Fantl, speaking on behalf of the Albuquerque Journal and Albuquerque Publishing Company.
Chandler said the bill will come back before the committee at a later date.
Quote of the day: “This is the story of House Bill 153 and a freshman legislator.” Rep. Sarah Silva, D-Las Cruces, discussing the amendments to her bill to update New Mexico’s press shield law.
“I don’t see the point of that question. I’m kidding. It’s a joke!” —House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, about a question on the difference between an optometrist and an ophthalmologist.