The process in New Mexico’s Legislature stinks (and it hinders “democracy”)

Under its current leadership the Rio Grande Foundation has been involved in the Legislature for many years. there have long been serious problems with the process, but those problems seem to be getting worse. These legislative processes used in Santa Fe hinder public involvement in the process and leave legislators uninformed about the impact the bills being considered in Santa Fe will have on citizens.

Whether this is by design or not, it is important to understand that the public is not really welcomed to the process.

Here’s the situation:

Committee chairs are clearly under pressure from leadership to move bills along as quickly as possible. Among their tactics is dramatically limiting public comment. Repeatedly and in nearly ALL committees on very controversial bills, Democrat committee chairs often limit comment to a handful of individuals or a very limited time period. This is the case whether the testimony is being done in person or online.

• More than once the chair has limited testimony to “the first 10 people” in line at the microphone or some number. One committee chair on HB 11 (paid leave) limited testimony to 10 people after seeing 42 hands raised in opposition setting off a dramatic and potentially dangerous rush to the microphone. Imagine being elderly or disabled and traveling to Santa Fe to testify on a bill only to be literally outrun by younger participants.
• In addition to limited numbers testimony is often limited to as little as one minute.
• Zoom testimony is both limited AND participants are ignored. While Zoom testimony is one of the best things to happen to the legislative process in Santa Fe, being on the call on time and raising your “Zoom” hand to testify but never being recognized. Zoom testimony is also extremely limited on the most important bills.
• Bills are shifted around the calendar. You’d think with all of the time limits and efforts to move the process along that bills would be heard in a relatively timely fashion in a manner that respects the time of those who travel to Santa Fe to participate in the democratic process. Sadly, bills are continuously “rolled” to the next meeting and meeting times are changed at the last second.

These are just a few of the significant issues relating to the process for people who attempt to testify in Santa Fe. The rules are set by the majority party. If the Democrats who have run Santa Fe for decades actually care about “democracy,” they need to act to solve some of these process to really serve the people of New Mexico.