By DANIEL J. CHACÓN
The Santa Fe New Mexican
Three priority pieces of legislation Democrats set a goal of getting to the governor’s desk by the halfway mark of the 30-day session made it across the Senate in a flash.
But the bills have yet to even get a hearing in the House.
Senate bills 1, 2 and 3 cleared the chamber by the fourth day of the session last week, handing Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham an early victory in her legislative agenda for the last session of her second term.
As of Wednesday afternoon, only SB 2 — a $1.5 billion road bonding package — was scheduled for a committee hearing. It is set to be considered by the House Transportation, Public Works and Capital Improvements Committee at 9 a.m. Thursday.
Despite this, the House has promised quick consideration for the measures, and Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth says he still expects a bill-signing ceremony with the governor at the midway point — at least for two of the three bills.
“I always put an asterisk on [SB 3] because that’s been a challenging bill for the House,” Wirth, D-Santa Fe, said in an interview Wednesday. “But I think they’re making progress on that.”
SB 3 would essentially make it easier to force people to receive mental health treatment, a proposal some lawmakers have resisted in the past.
The bill would change the legal definitions of “harm to self” and “harm to others,” which determine whether a person can be ordered into mental health treatment against their will — a legal process called involuntary civil commitment. Opponents have argued it would take away constitutional freedoms from people with disabilities and said the real problem is the state’s lack of mental health resources.
During her State of the State address on opening day, Lujan Grisham called all three bills critically important issues that can’t wait.
SB 1, which passed the Senate unanimously, would expedite licensure for out-of-state doctors to practice in New Mexico.
SB 2, which passed 31-9 largely along party lines, would authorize the State Transportation Commission to issue up to $1.5 billion in additional bond debt to fund construction and maintenance projects on state-owned roads. Republican senators expressed concerns about issuing bonds instead of cash to pay for road projects as well as increasing taxes and fees.
While SB 3 remains a question mark, Wirth said two other bills lawmakers prioritized for the first two weeks of the session could also reach the governor’s desk by next week.
One, an interstate licensure compact for social workers, passed the House Wednesday and now awaits Senate action. The second, a bill that would prohibit local governments in New Mexico from contracting with the federal government to run immigration detention centers, cleared a second committee Wednesday evening and now heads to the full House for a vote.
Wirth said he plans to give both the social worker compact and the detention facility proposal a single committee referral to expedite their consideration.
“Things can always go awry in this, but I’ve met with [House Speaker Javier Martínez], and so we’ve both kind of committed to do this and feeling good about where we are,” he said.
Wirth noted SB 1, 2 and 3 were referred to only one committee in the House.
“As promised, the House is moving quickly to get Senate Bills 1, 2, and 3 swiftly through our Chamber with single-committee referrals, so this important legislation can get to the Governor’s desk and be signed into law,” House Democratic spokesperson Camille Ward wrote in an email Wednesday.
Wirth said that sends the signal “that they’re on the fast track,” adding he looks forward to a bill-signing ceremony “and really celebrating the good work being done in the first half of the session.”
Wirth also noted that after bills pass there are a couple of procedural steps before they can be signed into law.
“I think realistically, we’ll get the bills done on Tuesday and then it’s just the mechanics of getting the enrolled and engrossed bill up to the governor,” he said. “We’ll coordinate that with her.”