Roundup for legislature

GRIP 2 Transportation

bill passes on house floor

GRIP 2, a road improvement program initiated by Governor Richardson and introduced by Rep. Daniel Silva (D-Albuquerque) passed on the House floor earlier this week with a 62 to 5 vote.

GRIP 2 (HB 496) proposes the authorization of $250 million in severance tax bonds for transportation projects that will benefit cities, counties, and tribal governments across the state. The bonds will be issued in $50 million increments over five years. They will fund 118 transportation projects that were requested by local and tribal governments. GRIP 2 was one of the four top projects identified by the Governor in his State of the State address at the beginning of the legislative session.

“GRIP 2 is so important for New Mexico because it helps local governments pay for their local transportation infrastructure needs. These bonds will not be used for state highway projects. They will help cities, counties, and tribal governments to upgrade their roads, improve safety on local roads, and better integrate local transportation systems into the state system,” said Rep. Silva, Chairman of the House Transportation & Public Works Committee.

The plan is an offshoot of GRIP (Governor Richardson's Investment Partnership) - the successful, $1.6 billion initiative that financed 40 major highway projects, including the I-40/Coors Interchange reconstruction, as well as the RailRunner commuter rail system. The House passed GRIP II today on a 62-5 vote.

House passes bill that protects emergency

health care volunteers

The House unanimously passed a bill earlier this week that would protect health care professionals responding to emergencies. The bill is now headed to Senate committees.

Volunteer health professionals who respond to a public health emergency would be covered with worker's compensation benefits under House Bill 605, sponsored by Rep. John Heaton. The act would cover medical practitioners deployed by the Department of Health both in New Mexico and outside the state.

“This bill would protect our volunteer health professionals who help us ensure access to emergency health care and public health services during health emergencies,” said Health Secretary Michelle Lujan Grisham.

New Mexico law does not currently provide an effective mechanism for making sure injury and death benefits would be available to unpaid deployed health professionals, leaving those who volunteer potentially unprotected for injuries they may suffer while deployed.

Child protection bills pass House

Rep. Rhonda S. King has introduced legislation that would create penalties for sex offenders who use any type of electronic device to communicate with or solicit a child. The definition of “electronic communication devices” as defined in these bills is broadened to encompass new technology. HB 918cs - Child Solicitation by Electronic Device and HB 920a - Criminal Sexual Communication with Child both unanimously passed the House with a vote of 67-0 and 65-0 respectively. The bills are supported by Governor Bill Richardson, Attorney General Gary King, and the Department of Public Safety.

Rep. King said, “This legislation broadens the definition of electronic devices to include all types of communications currently in use or those that may be developed. Sex offenders have cleverly adapted to the technologies that our children are so comfortable using. So it makes sense to adapt our laws to encompass these modes of criminal communication and solicitation in order to protect our children.”

HB 918cs would amend the criminal offense of “child solicitation by computer” to include the broader “child solicitation by electronic communication device.” The penalty would be a fourth- degree felony if the child is 13 but under 16 and a third-degree felony if the child is under 13. If the solicitation results in a meeting, the penalty would be a third degree felony if the child is 13 but under 16 and a second degree felony if the child is under 13.

Take-home alcohol bill approved by Senate

Half full or half empty?: Restaurant customers could take home a partly consumed bottle of wine under a bill approved by the Senate.

Senators passed Senate Bill 332 on a 28-1 vote, with Sen. Lynda Lovejoy, D-Crownpoint, voting no. The bill goes to the House, which last month approved a similar measure (House Bill 124).

Under the proposals, restaurant customers would be allowed to take the bottle home if they had purchased a full-course meal and had the restaurant reinsert the cork, seal the bottle in a tamper-proof bag and attach a receipt.

Anti-Gang bill passes House

Representative Thomas Swisstack (D-Rio Rancho) received the overwhelming support of the House for his legislation that aims to deter gang proliferation. The bill would increase or enhance the basic sentences of certain gang-related crimes. HB 49a - Street Gang Activity Sentencing Enhancements passed the House with a vote of 51-2.

HB 49 calls for mandatory enhancements to a base sentence for gang-related crimes. The enhancements are as follows: fourth degree felony = 1 year, third degree felony = 2 years, third degree felony resulting in death = 3 years, second degree felony = 4 years, second degree felony resulting in death = 6 years, and first degree felony = 8 years. It also requires that the enhancements be served consecutively with the base sentencing.

New Mexico ranks in the top five most violent states with gang activity but is the only state without gang legislation among the southwestern states.

PNM-backed bill would leave delinquent customer out in cold

SANTA FE - Thousands of New Mexicans could be in for a cold winter next year, a statewide community activist group says, if the Legislature passes a bill backed by Public Service Company of New Mexico.

House Bill 538 would reduce the number of people protected by a previous law that prohibits the state's largest utility company from turning off the heat for low-income families between Nov. 15 and March 15.

The bill is sponsored by House Speaker Ben Lujan, D-Nambe, and co-sponsored by about 20 other lawmakers.

``This bill takes aim at the protection of those who most need it and puts more burdens on poor people,'' said Jami Lara Porter of Community Action New Mexico.

However, PNM spokesman Jeff Buell said the proposal is aimed at preventing poor families from building up enormous arrears on their heating bills. ``Last year, about 7,000 customers incurred significant debts during the winter months,'' he said. ``This bill is trying to get them onto payment plans.''

A fiscal impact report by the Legislative Council says HB 538 revises a law passed during a 2005 special session that imposed the shut-off moratorium. This year's bill would add definitions and limitations to the Gasoline and Home Heating Relief Act.

Under the existing law, any New Mexican who meets eligibility requirements for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, is protected from having heat cut off during the winter. Under HB 538, the protection would only apply to those who have been certified by the state for LIHEAP.

LIHEAP is a federal program administered in New Mexico by the state Human Services Department.

The bill would require those protected by the shut-off moratorium to pay at least 25 percent of their utility bill each month.

``In order to pay the 25-percent current bill and the re-payment plan, households will be making decisions between paying for food, health care and other obligations rather than their utility bill therefore losing their protection under the winter heating disconnect moratorium,'' the Legislative Council report said. ``Depending on the temperatures especially for the very young or old, or medically fragile, it could be a matter of life and death.''

Porter said in an interview that this winter, 200,000 households were protected by the shut-off moratorium. The number of those who are LIHEAP certified is about 70,000.

Buell said the bill would encourage more people to apply for LIHEAP. However, according to the Legislative Council, the state Human Services Department -- which certifies households for LIHEAP -- fears it would be overwhelmed by more and more people applying for the program.

Last year, Buell said, the average LIHEAP assistance payment was $130 for the four-month period covered by the moratorium. The average cost for heating during that four-month period was about $570, he said.

PNM recently sent letters to about 9,000 households to alert the customers that the moratorium on shut-offs is about to lift, Buell said.

HB 538 spells out two payment plans for customers who couldn't pay their heating bills during the winter. The bill in its original version said a utility could disconnect service for any customer who didn't honor the terms of the payment plan. However, the House Appropriations and Finance Committee removed that section from the bill.

The Legislative Council report says the bill's repayment plans ``will be difficult for any low-income household to make.''

A similar bill, Senate Bill 1026, sponsored by Sen. Jack Ryan, R-Albuquerque, is moving through the Senate.

(Contact Steve Terrell at (505) 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com.)

Ullibarri shepherds first bill through Legislature

SANTA FE - “For a minute I thought I had lost a perfectly reasonable bill,” said Senator David Ulibarri (D-Cibola, Socorro and Valencia-30), newly appointed senator for Senate District 30. Senator Ulibarri was subject to a last-minute ¡§initiation¡¨ in which the Senate first failed to pass Senate Bill 837, which would require that county assessors make property tax schedules available in electronic form.

In the course of debate, Senator Ulibarri was grilled by various senators about the provisions of the bill. Following the debate, the Senate voted not to pass the bill, leaving Senator Ulibarri standing there in a frozen moment of amazement. Then, almost immediately, someone moved to reconsider the vote. In short order the vote was taken again, resulting in passage and the entire Senate joined in congratulating Senator Ulibarri on successfully shepherding his first bill through the Senate's legislative process. Present for the momentous event was his daughter, Naomi.

Senator Ulibarri was appointed by Governor Bill Richardson to replace Senator Joseph A. Fidel, who resigned his position just before the current legislative session. Senator Linda Lovejoy (D-Bernalillo, Cibola, McKinley, Rio Arriba and Sandoval-22) was subsequently appointed to replace outgoing Senator Leonard Tsosie. Senator Ulibarri brings extensive governmental experience to his new position, having served as County Manager for Cibola County and also as a city councilor for Grants.

Briefs courtesy of The Santa Fe New Mexican