By MILAN SIMONICH
The Santa Fe New Mexican
Forget the fine print. Normal-size type is tough enough for Peter Smith, a self-described expert witness on the bill to create a state public bank.
Smith submitted a piece to The New Mexican scolding me for a column in which I said $110 million would be taken from the general fund to open the bank. A mere $50 million would be appropriated, Smith wrote.
His claim is false. Proof is in the bill he helped pitch during a legislative committee hearing.
The financial analysis states: “House Bill 130 creates the public bank of New Mexico and appropriates $110 million from the general fund to capitalize the bank.”
Particulars in the bill call for $60 million from the state’s general fund to be deposited in the bank. The other $50 million, also from the general fund, would be given to the bank for startup expenses.
There would be no chance to reclaim that money for other purposes. “Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund,” the bill states.
Smith, now of Santa Fe, is probably best-known for defeating and then losing to Bernie Sanders in elections for Vermont’s congressional seat. Like all politicians advocating a public bank, Smith downplays the risks to taxpayers.
It might sound politically correct to extol the bank as a project for the people. But good law isn’t made with slogans.
A public bank is an unnecessary appendage to the state bureaucracy. Even bureaucrats say so.
“There are already several state-funded entities providing funding to support the credit needs of New Mexico businesses, municipalities and [to] support existing lenders,” the state Economic Development Department’s staff said in its analysis.
The Capitol isn’t the only political battleground during this 60-day legislative session.
Former state Sen. Clemente Sanchez is defending what he says is his home turf as he tries to win appointment to the House of Representatives.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is weighing whether to select Sanchez or Martha Garcia to fill a vacancy in House District 6. At the governor’s request, Sanchez’s residency is under investigation by agents from the state Department of Justice.
Sanchez says he lives in Grants, heart of District 6. But last year, he changed the address on his voter registration record from Grants to Acomita. Doing so enabled him to run for an open seat in Senate District 30. That alteration also removed Sanchez from District 6.
Sanchez lost the Democratic Senate primary in June. He changed his voter registration record again in late November to claim he again lived in Grants and House District 6. That change came right after the representative in District 6, Eliseo Alcon resigned from office because of illness.
“While former Senator Sanchez maintains that he does, in fact, reside in House District 6, the foregoing facts are concerning,” Lujan Grisham wrote in a letter to state Attorney General Raúl Torrez. “I cannot in good faith make a selection to fill the House District 6 vacancy until this issue is resolved.”
This marks the second investigation by Torrez’s agents of a contender for the appointment in District 6. The first ended former Rep. Harry Garcia’s slippery attempt to land the seat.
Both the Cibola and McKinley county commissioners had nominated Garcia to fill the vacancy. But the attorney general’s agents found Garcia had changed his voter registration record to a trailer park he did not live in. The dwelling was unoccupied.
Sanchez’s two changes on voter registration records seemingly made him eligible to fill legislative vacancies. But what he did inflamed critics.
Many politicians are urging Lujan Grisham to appoint Martha Garcia instead of Sanchez. They include three sitting state lawmakers, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren and several tribal council members.
“As a citizen of the Navajo Nation, Ms. Garcia would bring an essential and historic perspective to a predominantly Native-American district,” said a letter this week from public officials to Lujan Grisham. The signers included state Sen. Shannon Pinto and state Reps. Joseph Hernandez and Charlotte Little.
A former Cibola County commissioner, Martha Garcia initially was an enthusiastic supporter of Harry Garcia (no relation). She nominated him for the legislative appointment. Martha Garcia emerged as a candidate to fill the vacancy after he was disqualified.
As for Sanchez, he told me he welcomes a state investigation. It should go deeper than where clothes-horse Sanchez hangs his business attire and eats his meals.
Some people like to say home is where the heart is. Sanchez’s changing of addresses on his voter registration records seems to show his home is where a political vacancy exists.
Editor’s note: Ringside Seat is an opinion column about people, politics and news. Contact Milan Simonich at msimonich@sfnewmexican.com or 505.986.3080.