Legislative Roundup
The Santa Fe New Mexican
Bill on police assaults tabled: A bipartisan bill that would have added felony attacks on police officers to the list of crimes that can be compensated by the Victims of Crime Act was tabled Saturday morning by the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee.
House Bill 225 is being sponsored by Reps. Ambrose Castellano, D-Las Vegas, Bill Rehm, R-Albuquerque, and Cynthia Borrego, D-Albuquerque. The Victims of Crime Act gives victims of certain crimes rights under New Mexico law, such as the right to be notified of and attend any court proceedings and the right to restitution.
The panel voted 4-2 along party lines to table the bill. Some of the Democrats expressed concern it could lead to police seeking money from the state’s underfunded Crime Victims Reparation Commission instead of exhausting worker’s compensation or other funding sources first.
“I, too, think that this is a good idea, but it’s not well written,” said Rep. Liz Thomson, D-Albuquerque.
Bill to let 16-, 17-year-olds vote fails: The House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee tabled a bill Saturday afternoon that would have let 16- and 17-year-olds vote.
Committee Chairwoman Rep. D. Wonda Johnson, D-Rehoboth, voted to oppose House Bill 217. With one Democrat absent, the result was a 4-4 tie, meaning the bill failed to advance.
Supporters of the bill, which is being sponsored by Reps. Kristina Ortez, D-Taos, and Christine Trujillo, D-Albuquerque, said teenagers pay taxes and should have a say in government decisions that affect them.
“Their paychecks are taxed,” said Isabella Baker, with Youth Voices in Action. “They can drive. They can be tried as an adult in court in some cases.”
A couple of supporters brought up the example of LGBTQ teens, whose lives are directly affected by school board decisions and who are “hearing their lives debated in rooms where they aren’t even allowed to voice their opinions,” said Nathan Saavedra, community organizer with Equality New Mexico.
“During high school, I had a hard time anytime I wanted to go to the bathroom myself,” said Ahtza Chavez, executive director of NM Native Vote and a “masculine-presenting two spirit.”
Chavez said the bill would help Native transgender youth “vote for the people who are making the decisions that are going to affect their everyday lives and the treatment they receive within the halls of their schools.”
Opponents of the bill argued teenagers aren’t mature enough to make voting decisions and already have their parents to advocate for them. Rep. Martin Zamora, R-Clovis, said he doesn’t think most teenagers are interested in voting, adding he wasn’t when he was that age.
“They want to be playing video games,” he said. “They want to be hanging out with their grandparents and their parents and their siblings.”
Zamora said, if allowed to vote, 16- and 17-year-olds would likely vote how their parents tell them to. He also noted no teenagers testified at the hearing in favor of being allowed to vote.
“It has to do with integrity of our elections, it has to do with government not supporting our family unit, and there wasn’t any kids in testimony … saying ‘I want the right to vote,’” Zamora said.
Quote of the day: “New Mexico has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to discrimination protections.” —Christine Armstrong, director of advocacy at the Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico, testifying in favor of House Bill 207, a proposed expansion of the state Human Rights Act.
