The New Mexico State legislative session began this week and since it’s an even year, it will last only 30 days. Next year's session will last 60 days. KUNM asked former legislator Dede Feldman to explain how shorter sessions work, and may not be long enough to create good policy.
DEDE FELDMAN: The main thing is the budget. There is an exception, though, in case of an emergency, or if the governor puts an item on what they call, the call to the session, that issue is fair game, or is germane to the session. So there's always a race before the session to get the governor to give a message to the legislature on non budgetary and taxation issues that would allow the issues to be considered during the session.
KUNM: So even before the legislature starts, a lot of lawmakers are trying to reach out to the governor to speak to her on bills that are important to them so that they can be considered during this 30 day session.
FELDMAN: You bet and special interests and constituents of all kinds are also riding the governor, saying, put this on the agenda, put gun control on the agenda, or put ICE detention facilities on the agenda, or put medical malpractice on the agenda, because those are really important things for us to consider, even though they're not strictly budgetary items.
KUNM: We have a certain amount of pre-filed bills right now, some that aren't necessarily related to the budget, some that don't have appropriations. Why are lawmakers continuing to file when they're not related to the budget necessarily?
FELDMAN: Well, they may be hoping that, and they may be working on the governor to get it on the call so that it can be considered during the session. Or it may be that they just want to, for a variety of reasons, keep that issue in front of the public. Keep it under discussion between last time, last long session and the next long session. It may be a complex health care issue that's not going to go away.
KUNM: The governor, this is her last legislature. I'm curious to know if, after the session ends, if she's still not satisfied, could she hold another special session?
FELDMAN: Yes, yes, and this is one of the criticisms of the way the constitution set up the legislative process in New Mexico, you know, things happen in the interim, and it's often not enough time to deal with them in a 30-day session or a 60-day session. So New Mexico has a history of a lot of special sessions being called, sometimes to deal with a budget shortfall, sometimes to deal with a wildfire. And so yes, the governor can call a special session and in rare instances, and I think only two instances, the legislature itself can call itself back into session for what they call an extraordinary session.
KUNM: So we're specifically talking about New Mexico, but to my understanding, other states have different rules and durations of their own sessions correct?
FELDMAN: Yes, that's right, some meet every other year. Some meet for six months. Some meet for three months. It's all different, but New Mexico, I think, is seen as having a rather amateur legislature, at least it has been until recently, when New Mexico finally has given some staff to legislators, but the New Mexico session is short and New Mexico lawmakers are unpaid, except for the per diem that they get while they're serving in session or in interim committees. And New Mexico is, I think, the only state that does not provide some kind of a salary or some kind of compensation for legislators.
KUNM: For New Mexicans, for everyday people, why do you feel it's important for them to know this information?
FELDMAN: Well, you know the old saying, garbage in, garbage out. The process that you have is flawed, then the product, namely the policies, the laws, the way that the state addresses nagging problems like poverty and economic development or environmental protection, those are not as good as they could be. So I think New Mexicans should care about the quality of our laws, whether we're solving our economic problems. Whether we can hold our leaders accountable and that may not be possible in a legislature that is outdated or that is unwilling to confront big problems because it's controlled by special interests or lobbyists or stagnant because of some problem with how bills move through the session.
Support for this coverage comes from the Thornburg Foundation.
