Legislative roundup, Feb. 18, 2023

Feb. 17—Days remaining in session: 28

Bundle of joy: Sen. Mark Moores, R-Albuquerque, and his wife, Lisa, welcomed a baby boy Thursday.

Mark Donald Elipio Moores weighed nearly 7 pounds and measured 20 1/2 inches.

"Lisa and I are reminded of the blessing of life as we hold our new baby in our arms," Moores wrote in a text message. "Life is indeed a wonderful treasure with each day full of love."

Wildfire aid coming: Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham plans to sign Senate Bill 6, which will appropriate $100 million to communities impacted by the historic Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire, on Monday morning, a spokeswoman for the governor wrote in an email Friday.

The $100 million will go through the local government division of the state Department of Finance and Administration to provide zero-interest reimbursable loans to repair infrastructure "damaged by fire, flooding, or debris flows caused by the Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon Fire," according to the bill.

Both the House and Senate unanimously approved the bill, which is intended to provide immediate relief while communities in the fire zone await federal aid, which may take some time.

SB 6 has an emergency clause, meaning it will go into effect after the governor signs it.

Constitutional Revision Commission: A 21-member commission with a two-year lifetime would propose constitutional amendments to the Legislature under a bill the Senate Rules Committee advanced Friday.

The commission would include 15 voting members, five from each of New Mexico's three congressional districts, and six nonvoting members, including two members from the House, two from the Senate, the chief justice of the Supreme Court and the attorney general or their designee.

Senate Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, said the state constitution is "filled" with provisions that aren't followed.

"It says the governor's salary should be $5,000 a year," she said. "This is an attempt to kind of do a wholesale cleaning of those things that we're not doing, we're not following, and are sort of 100 years too old to implement."

Sen. Cliff Pirtle, R-Roswell, who joined Sen. Linda Lopez, D-Albuquerque, in voting against Senate Bill 308, said he couldn't support giving the governor the authority to appoint the 15 voting members as spelled out in the bill.

"It's our sole responsibility to propose amendments," he said, referring to the Legislature. "Once I read that part of it, that the governor is basically going to be in charge of this commission, it was just an automatic red flag 'no' vote for me just for that simple reason."

Posthumous honor: Miguel Trujillo Sr., an Isleta Pueblo educator and World War II veteran who successfully fought in 1948 for the right of Native Americans to vote in New Mexico, has been honored posthumously for his advocacy.

The 2022 Margaret Chase Smith American Democracy Award was presented Thursday to family members of Trujillo "for political courage for his work championing Native American voting rights," according to the Secretary of State's Office.

Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver nominated Trujillo for the award.

"Though less known than other civil rights pio­neers, the consequences of Mr. Trujillo's actions have had an enormous impact on expanding the most fundamental of our civil rights," Toulouse Oliver said in a statement.

Trujillo's granddaughter, Patricia Abeita, accepted the award during the National Association of Secretaries of State's 2023 Winter Conference in Washington, D.C.

Go, Pink Church!: Members of the House of Representatives voted 70-0 to approve House Memorial 46 on Friday, making it Santa Fe Scottish Rite Masonic Center Day.

Rep. Stefani Lord, R-Sandia Park, introduced the memorial, which notes the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry first met in Santa Fe in 1882 and completed construction of the temple on the corner of Paseo de Peralta and Bishops Lodge Road about 20 years later.

The memorial says the temple has been in use for over a century and provides "education for masonic leaders, a location for a growing number of movie productions and a venue for plays, concerts, lectures, weddings and memorial services and especially for youth and education programs."

James Lamb commemorated the memorial by playing the bagpipes, and Rep. Tara Lujan, D-Santa Fe, recalled growing up calling the temple the Pink Church, which is what many locals still call it today.

D.C. just lost a round: Members of the House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee voted 3-3 on a measure that would encourage the House to support efforts to enact federal legislation granting statehood to Washington, D.C.

Friday's tie vote basically kills any chance House Memorial 28, sponsored by five House Democrats, will move forward. Whether that hurts D.C's chances or not, we can't say.

Honoring veterans Monday is Military and Veterans Day in the state Capitol as the Legislature honors those who served, and still serve, their country.

The New Mexico Department of Veterans Services and the New Mexico National Guard will co-host the event to honor members of New Mexico's military community.

A noon ceremony is planned in the Capitol Rotunda. Informational tables will be set up in the Rotunda, and representatives from several veteran-related departments will be on hand to answer questions about veteran services and benefits.

Quotes of the day: "Pitchers and catchers report on Tuesday." — Rep. Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, after the Pledge of Allegiance on the House floor Friday. Martínez, the House speaker, was referring to someone who yells out, "Play ball!" nearly each day after the pledge.

"What?!" — a building security staffer after Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, announced the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee would be considering a bill to establish the crime of bestiality. The committee advanced the bill.