Roosevelt County Chamber’s
Karl Terry
Feb. 2, 2021
Legislative Appreciation Breakfast
While we endeavor to keep this weekly report interesting, informative and easy to read, there’s nothing like getting it straight from the horse’s mouth. Because of the pandemic we were unable to hold our annual Legislative Appreciation Dinner in Santa Fe this year so we’ve arranged to have all our local legislators on Zoom tomorrow morning (Wednesday, Feb. 3) at 7:30 a.m. Sign up for the link by CLICKING HERE
Legislation starting to drop
With a little over two weeks left before the deadline to introduce legislation, our bill tracker search showed 569 results. That has been accomplished despite a COVID-19 scare that saw a half dozen people in the Roundhouse test positive for the virus, including one Republican legislator. That touched off a virtual round of finger-pointing and new rules from Speaker Brian Egolf forbidding use of the committee rooms in the Roundhouse. Our optimism last week that maybe things were going to move smoothly may have been premature as several people who testified this past week reported lots of trouble getting their feed opened up. Egolf’s staff reported things were all great, however with over 2,400 folks logged in to committee sessions last week.
Senate convenes for the first time
The Senate met for their first session on Monday, taking care of mostly procedural matters and not debating any bills. They did however manage to introduce 160 in the time they were convened. Senate rules require members to be in the building during a floor session but they may choose to participate virtually from their office.
Minimum wage bill introduced
At least one bill in the House has been introduced that seeks to further move the minimum wage higher. HB 110. The bill seeks to raise the wage to $15 an hour by 2025. Under previously passed legislation the rate is slated to rise to $12 an hour by 2024.
Marijuana bills are lit
Two bills seeking to legalize recreational cannabis had been introduced with at least one more in the wings. One of those bills was introduced by a Republican senator from Chaves County. Sen. Cliff Pirtle’s bill seeks to have the tax rate on the pot at 13-15 percent. His bill would allow 4 percent each to go to the county and city jurisdiction with the remainder to the state. Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto, an Albuquerque Democrat, says his bill would be “straight-up, nonjudgemental regulation.” According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, Ivey-Soto’s bill would tax pot at the rate of 21 percent with a third going to each entity. He says his bill has received “a lot of influence” from the New Mexico Cannabis Chamber of Commerce. I guess that’s at least one Chamber that’s all-in on cannabis. Most of the rest of the state’s chambers have a much more skeptical eye on legalization and want to see safeguards for businesses to retain an unimpaired workforce and ways of enforcement for persons who drive impaired. At least neither of the two bills seeks to put the state itself in the marijuana business, which some bills sought to do last year.
Could our southeast counties secede?
Pirtle, who is famous for each year introducing a bill to end daylight saving time, has introduced another doozy. He has a bill that would allow counties to secede from the state and join another state or form their own state if certain criteria are met. He admits the bill is all about raising awareness of the frustration that the southeast part of the state experiences with state government. He says the area supplies a good part of the state’s budget through energy and agriculture and the metro areas, particularly Albuquerque call the shots on legislation and regulation.
