State Sen. Crystal Brantley, R-Elephant Butte, dusts off her own blue Future Farmers of America jacket from 1995 to introduce FFA members from her district, including her two daughters, at the state Capital Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. Photo by Jim Weber/The New Mexican
The Santa Fe New Mexican:
Out for blood … testing: A bill designed to aid in prosecuting DWI cases made it out of the House Health and Human Services Committee on its second try Wednesday.
House Bill 106, sponsored by Rep. Andrea Reeb, R-Clovis, passed 8-2.
Reeb, a former prosecutor, said law enforcement used to be able to choose between blood and breath tests for DWI suspects until a 2016 Supreme Court decision prohibited warrantless blood tests except in felony or injury cases.
“Because of that,” she told the committee when she first presented her bill Monday, “we’ve had issues with misdemeanor DWIs in the sense that we aren’t able to test for blood.”
Reeb, who was joined by several New Mexico State Police officers at Wednesday’s hearing, said her bill would allow police to petition a court for a search warrant to have a suspect’s blood drawn if they believe a controlled substance is involved.
“We’ve been trying to address this issue because you can only get a search warrant if it’s a felony, which means you have to have three prior DWIs or cause an accident that hurt somebody or kills somebody,” she said after her bill advanced Wednesday.
Reeb amended her bill after receiving pushback from Democrats on Monday to remove cannabis from the legislation.
“The testing isn’t quite there to know when somebody’s actually used or not, so that was this committee’s concern,” she said.
Pro-Israel caucus: A new caucus is being formed at the Roundhouse — but its interests lie more than 7,000 miles away.
Sen. Craig Brandt, R-Rio Rancho, announced the creation of the New Mexico Friends of Israel Caucus and invited his colleagues to the group’s first meeting Thursday, which he said would be more informational.
“I hope you’ll come to that just to get the information and then decide if you want to be part of that caucus,” he said.
A flyer Brandt provided his colleagues describes the caucus as a “bipartisan, pro-Israel caucus … formed as a direct result of the October 7th, 2023 attack on Israel by the Hamas terrorist army, which spawned the present Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza as well as the huge uptick in antisemitism in our country.”
Brandt said one of the group’s tenets is the belief Israel has the right to exist.
“That’s been one of the big issues,” he said. “Part of the conflicts in Israel has been that there’s a group of people, most of the nations around Israel, that don’t believe Israel has a right to exist at all.”
‘Red flag’ bill heads to House floor: Changes to New Mexico’s “red flag” gun law are moving forward, after a 7-4 vote by the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
The state’s Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order Act, passed by state lawmakers several years ago, allows for someone’s firearms to be temporarily seized if a judge decides the gun owner poses a risk to themselves or others.
If passed, House Bill 12, sponsored by Rep. Joy Garratt, D-Albuquerque, would tweak the law to require immediate relinquishment of firearms, as opposed to allowing the 48-hour window currently in law, and would explicitly allow law enforcement officers to file a petition for an extreme risk firearm protection order.
The bill will now go to the House floor for debate.
What eviction?: Despite opposition from public commenters, a bill to expunge records of evictions five years after a person was kicked out made its way out of the House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee on Wednesday.
House Bill 98 would give another chance to people who may have been evicted years ago, but who had reformed the behaviors that may have gotten them kicked out, sponsor Rep. Janelle Anyanonu, D-Albuquerque, told lawmakers.
“As we all know, eviction can have lasting consequences for anyone, and I believe that expunging those records after a fair and suitable amount of time [can] help people improve their credit scores and secure access to housing,” Anyanonu said.
Multiple public commenters turned out in opposition of the bill, arguing a person’s record of how they treat rented properties is crucial information for landlords, especially when renters have a history of property damage, illicit behavior or late payments.
“Landlords have a lot at stake when they rent a property … and they have a fundamental right and a need to know who they’re renting to,” said D’Val Westphal, executive vice president of policy and programs for the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce.
Anyanonu acknowledged prior evictions are important pieces of information for landlords and property managers, but said the five-year period such records are kept is enough time to assess a potential renter’s behavior.
The bill ultimately passed the committee on a 6-3 vote. It advances next to the House Judiciary Committee.
Get along, little farmers: The Roundhouse was awash Wednesday in a sea of youth in corduroy jackets for Future Farmers of America Day at the Roundhouse.
Lawmakers in both chambers recognized students involved in FFA, including the state’s leadership team.
“It’s an honor to host the future of New Mexico in the Roundhouse today, and I will say that the future looks bright,” said Sen. Crystal Brantley, R-Elephant Butte.
“I am a proud alumni of Las Cruces FFA — dusted off the old corduroy jacket from 1995 for you guys,” she added.
Sen. Leo Jaramillo, D-Española, who, like Brantley, wore an FFA jacket on the Senate floor, called himself an “honorary member” of Mesa Vista FFA.
“In a world where there are thousands of different negative influences affecting our youth, FFA provides a positive impact that is undeniable,” Jaramillo said. “Through lessons, networking programs and character building, FFA is building outstanding youth for the future right here in New Mexico.”
Quote of the day: “It’s a page-turner.” — Sen. Jay Block, R-Rio Rancho, while referring to New Mexico’s 216-page state Constitution.