A late night/early morning helps push cannabis legalization legislation one step closer to the finish line. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 5-4 to advance House Bill 12 to the full Senate just after 1:30am this morning. That was after hours of amendments and debate, which will no doubt foreshadow an epic showdown when and if the bill comes up for a vote of the full chamber. Read more about it all, and another bill that would limit reciprocity practices within the medical cannabis program in this morning's New Mexico Political Report. Andy Lyman is always right on top of these issues, and he just also happens to be co-host of our collaborative podcast project "Growing Forward."
We also have updates for you this morning on predatory lending reform, the Civil Rights Bill and also the status of priority #1, the state budget (House Bill 2).
And, we encourage you to read more about some of the internal dynamics of the Senate Judiciary Committee and chairman Joe Cervantes, from reporter Robert Nott at the Santa Fe New Mexican. The committee has taken a fair amount of criticism for the pace at which it is hearing bills, but in the debate early this morning, there was bipartisan support amongst the committee members on how they go about their work.
2 and a half days and counting...
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