After months of protests against racism and police brutality, legislators passed a bill late Tuesday night that ends qualified immunity in state court,
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A lot of the activity here in the last days of the session, not surprisingly, is focused on money matters. The first order of business each year is of course the budget (HB 2), and that seems to be nearing the finish line with just three and a half days left to go. Also, lawmakers in the House yesterday unanimously approved a Capital Outlay package (HB 285). Now it s up to the Senate to pick up the baton.
A measure to tap more money from the Land Grant Permanent Fund is also moving forward to the full Senate, after a historic vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday. A staple of recent legislative sessions, the measure has never made it this far before. All that stands between it and the Governor s desk is a full Senate vote. If all of that happens, it would still end up n the November 2022 ballot for voters to ultimately decide.
A busy weekend in the Roundhouse, capped off by yes votes for Medical Aid in Dying and Mandatory Paid Sick Leave measures. But, the big news of the weekend
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If you are interested in the most inner workings of state government, today s Your NM Government update is just for you! The work Wednesday in the Roundhouse was somewhat overshadowed by technical problems with the virtual proceedings. But a lot of the business that was considered had to do with how the sausage is made, so to speak. Here s a quick rundown of what we talked about in today s update:
Senate Bill 74 - This is a measure designed to curb the Governor s powers during a public emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic. This is something Republican lawmakers have been critical of nearly throughout the past year, but it has languished in the Senate for nearly three weeks. Bottom line, there was a push to take a vote in the full Senate, but it failed 14-24. It does not seem likely to get that vote, either, before the session ends, as Governor Lujan Grisham has indicated she would likely veto it if approved by lawmakers.
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Every 10 years after the census, the New Mexico state Legislature redraws its districts. While redistricting is always a contentious and often partisan task, this year, the drama is being felt by both parties. On Saturday, a compromise was reached: An independent committee would offer three to five maps that lawmakers choose from and can change before sending one to the governor. This clears the way for the bill to hit the Senate floor. KUNM spoke with Gwyneth Doland of New Mexico PBS to get a breakdown of the situation.
GWYNETH DOLAND: There was a task force that met for many months last year and into this year, a bipartisan group that was some sitting lawmakers, Democrats, Republicans, Senators, Representatives, also members of the community, good-government groups. There are some judges in there, folks like that. They wrote a bill, and they submitted it, that would take the task of redrawing these boundaries away from the lawmakers whose boundaries they are, right? Because