Rep. Crook is Retiring From House

One of the Legislature's longest-serving Republicans, Rep. Anna Crook of Clovis,is joining the growing list of New Mexico lawmakers who won't be returning next year.

Rep. Crook

Crook, who has served in the House since 1995, joins House Democratic Leader Rick Miera, Appropriations Chairman Kiki Saavedra, Rep. Nate Cote of Las Cruces, and Tom Taylor, R-Farmington in announcing she won't be seeking re-electon.

“Rep. Anna Crook will undoubtedly leave behind a legacy of leadership in the state House, and she will leave big shoes to fill,” said state GOP Chairman John Billingsley in a news release this morning. “From standing up for tough legislation to teaching new Legislators the ropes, her influence in the Roundhouse will remain. We are incredibly grateful for her years of service. Holding public office does not go without great sacrifice of time and energy, and few are able to do it as gracefully as Rep. Crook. Her presence in the Legislature will be missed, but we wish her all of the best in retirement.”

Crook represents a safe Republican district, so her retirement probably won't have a big effect on the political make up of the House.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: Whereas There are Too Many Dang Memorials ...

House GOP Leader Don Bratton

I’ve covered I don’t know how many legislative races in the past 30 years, but I don’t remember any candidate ever saying, “Vote for me and I’ll introduce more memorials than my opponent.”

Nevertheless, people who dropped in on a House or Senate floor session at any given time in the first three weeks or so of the recent legislative session more likely would have heard lawmakers “debating” some memorial than any actual bill.

Though lawmakers always argue that they eventually get to the serious stuff, one not versed in the ways of the Roundhouse — and some, like House Republican Leader Don Bratton of Hobbs, who are deeply knowledgeable of the system — might tend to think this amounts to a lot of wasted time.

If I had to choose a “Quote of the Session,” it probably would be something that Bratton said during a committee meeting following a lengthy debate over a nonbinding piece of legislation:

“I’m not sure why we’re killing trees for these memorials.”

For the rest of this column read it HERE at The Santa Fe New Mexican.

And though I normally don't plug columns at other New Mexico papers, Walt Rubel of the Las Cruces Sun News takes on the same topic and it's a good, funny read. That's HERE.

And if you can't get enough of the underlying politics of the recently-concluded session, see my story about the effect of the session on the governor's race.

I'm taking the next week off, so there probably won't be much happening on this blog. See you in March.

Rick Miera Not Seeking Re-election

Rick Miera

This is a big one, folks. House Majority Leader Rick Miera is not seeking re-election.

A press release just just went out from House Dems didn't explain exactly why:

Santa Fe, NM - House Majority Floor Leader Rick Miera has announced he will not seek reelection as the New Mexico State Representative in District 11 (the downtown corridor of Albuquerque) - a position he has held for the last 24 years.  Majority Leader Miera says the decision was a difficult one since he has dedicated so much of his life to the legislative process, especially involving the issues of educational equity, juvenile justice and health care access issues.  However, he feels the time is right to pass the torch. 

“I have made a difficult decision to step down from State Representative District 11, providing an opportunity for a new generation of community leaders to come forward and represent the neighborhoods and families of District 11 as I have for the last 24 years,” says Majority Leader Miera.  “I am grateful to my constituents who have placed their trust in me, and during the remainder of my term I will continue to look out for their best interests.”  Rep. Miera chose to wait until after the legislative session to make his announcement, so he could focus on his role as Majority Leader and champion educational issues and job creation opportunities

Times Change for Salt of the Earth

Back when they made the movie Salt of the Earth in the Silver City area in 1954, it was blacklisted and labeled communist propaganda.

It was about a mining strike, based on a true story of the Empire Zinc strike in 1950. The movie, directed by Herbert Biberman, deals with issues of labor, mining safety, discrimination against Hispanics and feminism (the real heroes of the film are the wives of the miners.)

But just a few moments ago, the New Mexico state Senate passed a memorial by Sen. Howie Morales, D-Silver City, honoring the anniversary of the film. It passed unanimously with all Democrats and Republicans voting in favor.

That's a little different than the initial reception in New Mexico. From the American Film Institute:

 On 2 Mar 1953, the film's cast and crew were met by a citizen's committee in Central, NM, and ordered to leave town. The following day, in Silver City, NM, the company was warned to "get out of town...or go out in black boxes." (Actor Clinton) Jencks was beaten and shots were fired at his car while it was parked outside his home. When the company did not capitulate to the demands, there was a "citizens' parade" led by a sound car blaring, "We don't want Communism; respect the law; no violence, but let's show them we don't like it."

Happy anniversary Salt of the Earth.

House Approves Marijuana Study

But there's nothing about studying
 the effect on piano players

It's pretty clear that the Legislature isn't ready to legalize marijuana, but the House tonight formally asked the Legislative Finance Committee to study marijuana legalization in Colorado and Washington.

The House voted 31-28 to approve House Memorial 38, sponsored by Rep. Bill McCamley, D-Las Cruces. Twenty six Democrats and five Republicans voted for it.

Among the areas the study will look at are state revenue; agricultural production levels; llegal drug-addiction rates; state and local law enforcement resource levels; federal law enforcement efforts; and testing for high-danger jobs, such as those in heavy-equipment operation and public safety.

CORRECTED: 2-20-14 10 am I just corrected the number of Republicans and Democrats voting for the memorial. Thanks to reader Rick for pointing out my substandard math skills, which forced me to look at the vote.

Julienne Trying to Sink Haaland

Marie Julienne, a Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor who did not file enough petition signatures to get on the ballot is challenging the nominating petitions of Debra Haaland, the other Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, trying to knock Holland off the ballot as well.

Debra Holland

Among the reasons for Julienne's challenge, which was filed last week in state district court in Albuquerque, is that some of Holland's petitions filed earlier this month, didn't include Spanish translations for words and phrases for the name of party (Democrata) or the name of the office ("asistente del gobernador").

Thus, the complaint said, those petitions "do not convey necessary and important information in Spanish required to be known by potential Spanish language signees."

Also, Julienne's complaint said, some pages abbreviated "lieutenant governor" as "Lt. Gov." instead of spelling it out.

Such alleged errors, the complaint says "demonstrates malfeasance and undermines our democratic electoral process."

Haaland said Wednesday that she is confident in her petition signatures. "I'm not worried about this, she said." She said she her attorney is looking at Julienne's complaint.

Julienne also said that many of Haaland's signatures one person signed names of others, persons not registered Democrats or not registered at address listed.

To qualify for the Democrats' pre-primary convention next month, candidates for statewide office need 2,186 signatures of registered Democrats in New Mexico. Julienne claims that Haaland, who filed a total of 3,222 signatures, actually filed only 1,043 valid signatures.

However, according to the Secretary of State's website, Julienne herself filed only 1,312 signatures, which, as the website notes, is not enough to qualify for the pre-primary convention.

More in tomorrow's New Mexican

Healthy Teeth, Happy Legislators

Maybe next year they'll give legislators
copies of this classic album

In my most recent report on lobbyist spending, a noted that Joe Menapace, a lobbyist for the New Mexico Dental Association spent $1,790 on a gift for legislators that he described in his report as “oral health.” 

I couldn't reach him for comment that day so I noted I couldn't say exactly what the "oral health" gift was but that I'd recently seen some electric toothbrushes on lawmakers' desks.

But I guess it wasn't the actual toothbrushes I'd seen. Menapace just emailed me and explained the association's gift was "a package containing two replacement brushes for the unit or system with a recharging base and an electric cord."

Menapace also sent this statement explaining that several years ago the groups decided not just to throw parties for the legislators.

The Dental Association’s leadership decided not to host an expensive reception or dinner in Santa Fe during legislative sessions but rather to invest in something the lawmakers would remember and appreciate not just while they were in session but year-round. The dentists’ organization chose to provide what was at the time a cutting-edge product, an electric toothbrush system that would assist the legislators in maintaining their oral health.

Sonicare brand electric toothbrush units were purchased in bulk at a substantial discount and distributed every two years, during the sixty-day sessions, to legislators. In even-numbered years, one package containing two (2) replacement brushes for the electric toothbrush units the solons received during the previous year have been provided.

This year, the NM Dental Association paid $15.99 for each of the above-referenced packages of replacement tooth brushes, far less than it might have spent had it been inclined to have sponsored food, beverage or entertainment to our busy legislators. Most importantly, however, is the dentists’ desire for the legislators to be reminded to practice sound oral health care and hopefully, the electric toothbrush units and replacement brushes will assist the legislators in doing so.

Green Chile Fightin' Words

My colleague Patrick Malone just pointed out this Denver Post blog post by Lynn Bartels (a former Albuquerque Tribune reporter) in which the very integrity of New Mexico is being questioned.

A Colorado legislator, Sen. Larry Crowder, R-Alamosa, is challenging "any New Mexico legislator who is a fifth-generation resident of that state" to a chile cook-off. Crowder is a fifth-generation Coloradan, Bartels explained,

Bartels quotes Crowder: “I am a connoisseur of green chile. I understand the difference between New Mexico and Colorado green chile. I love New Mexico chile, but I also love Colorado chile. It’s not so much the chile as it is the cook.”

Crowder, for reeasons I'm not quite sure of, said he prefers the judges be religious leaders from either state.

This all goes back, of course to Denver Mayor Michael Hancock's Superbowl bet, which involved green chile -- as if that were some kind of a Colorado trademark. This angered many New Mexicans, as well as God, who caused the Denver Broncos to lose in a humiliating manner.

OK, New Mexico Legislature. Which fifth-generation New Mexican is going to step up and defend the state's honor?

Webcast Fail

Although webcasting has been touted as a way for people to watch legislative meetings without having to come to the Capitol, many people who wanted to watch this morning's Senate Rules Committee hearing on Public Education Secretary Designate Hanna Skandera found the webcast useless.

The webcast, on the Legislature’s website, would transmit a few moments of testimony, then shut down for several minutes before coming back on. By the time senators began voting, the webcast completely shut down for some viewers.

The same type of problems occurred last week during the Rules Committee’s hearing on a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana.

No, it wasn’t your computer’s fault. John Yaeger, deputy director of the Legislative Council , confirmed that the large number of viewers — or would-be viewers — was responsible.

“We have a 100 (megabytes per second) line and we’ve brushed right up against limit today and several days recently,” Yaeger said. “By comparison, we generally topped out at 60 mbps last session.”

It’s doubtful that there will be a solution to the problem in the near future. So far there has been no proposed appropriation to upgrade the webcast system.

Enviro Groups Opposed to Flynn Nomination

The Senate Rules Committee voted along party lines this morning to deny confirmation of Public Education Secretary-Designate Hanna Skandera.

Tomorrow the same committee is scheduled to consider the nomination of Environment Secretary-Designate Ryan Flynn. 

This afternoon several environmental groups including  Amigos Bravos, Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter, Environment New Mexico, New Mexico Environmental Law Center and Conservation Voters New Mexico announced that they oppose Flynn's nomination because of his policies.

At today's Skandera nomination there was no public hearing. This was because last year the committee heard hours and hours of public testimony about the nomination, which has been pending since the outset of Gov. Susana Martinez's administration in 2011.

This is the first time before the committee for Flynn. So expect a long hearing (and don't bet on a decision being made tomorrow).