Journal recommendations in area NM House races

District 15 — Rep. Sarah Maestas Barnes

Rep. Sarah Maestas Barnes didn’t wait to establish seniority before becoming an effective and influential member of the Legislature. In her first term — Maestas Barnes was first elected in 2014 — she saw two of her bills signed into law: an expansion of the Amber Alert and a requirement for child-proof packaging of liquid nicotine.

Maestas Barnes, a Republican, represents a jigsaw puzzle piece District 15, which covers the North Valley and Northeast Heights basically from Montaño and Paseo del Norte to the county line and Coors and the river to Wyoming and Louisiana.

She is a member of the House Appropriations & Finance, House Energy, Environment & Natural Resources and House Rules & Order Of Business committees and is the vice chair of the interim Land Grant Committee, among other assignments.

Some issues of importance to Maestas Barnes include toughening up DWI penalties as well as promoting small businesses and the expansion of solar energy through tax credits.

Besides her support of business in the Legislature, she also has worked to improve the financial situations of her neighbors by hosting job fairs with about 70 businesses and hundreds of applicants.

Maestas Barnes’ freshman experience in the House has been beneficial to the state and her district. The Journal recommends voters in District 15 retain Sarah Maestas Barnes.

District 20 — Rep. Jim Dines

Republican Rep. Jim Dines has made a career out of fighting for better, more accountable government, for 39 years as an attorney and the past two as a state representative for a district that straddles Interstate 40 and includes Manzano Mesa Park and Four Hills Country Club.

As a member of both the Education and Judiciary committees, Dines has worked to streamline high school testing, improve college graduation rates with mentoring, set four-year plans to get charter schools in public buildings, establish penalties for trafficking in food stamps, increase the crimes eligible for habitual offender status, and mandate both a statewide ethics commission and a cooling-off period before Cabinet secretaries, statewide elected officials, PRC commissioners and lawmakers can lobby state government.

In short, he works for a safer, smarter and more honest New Mexico. He takes no PAC money, no lobbyist money, and accepts no gifts. Along with a House Democrat, Dines sponsored much-needed ethics commission legislation that cleared the House, only to die in the Senate.

Dines says what’s really missing in Santa Fe is a “can-do” attitude in our government and a focus on prevention and changing behaviors rather than triaging the results of poor decisions.

The Journal recommends voters in District 20 keep Rep. Jim Dines working to improve government in Santa Fe.

District 22 — Rep. James E. Smith

Rep. James E. Smith, a retired teacher who has represented the district that includes the East Mountains and Placitas since 2011, has had an inside view of the state’s education system and has pushed for common-sense reforms.

He is chair of the Government, Elections & Indian Affairs Committee and a member of Regulatory & Public Affairs.

Smith, a Republican, supports using student test scores as a part of a teachers’ evaluation, supports ending social promotion but making parents part of the process and funding early childhood education from existing revenues, not the permanent fund.

Smith’s top priorities are developing a statewide broadband network to improve access for residents and businesses, and developing a workforce to attract business to the state.

Smith supports creation of an ethics commission and open committee hearings. In the 2016 regular session, he sponsored a bill that requires candidates and lobbyists to file campaign reports to the Secretary of State’s Office in an electronic format and requires they be maintained in a format that is easily accessible to the public for viewing and downloading. It was signed into law by the governor.

James E. Smith has been an effective lawmaker and the Journal recommends voters return him to the House.

District 23 — Rep. Paul Pacheco

If you are among those pleased that New Mexico no longer will give unrestricted driver’s licenses to people in the United States illegally, you have Republican incumbent Paul Pacheco largely to thank.

Pacheco has parlayed his experience in law enforcement into efforts to get tough on criminals in New Mexico.

Pacheco was first elected to the district that covers part of Corrales and the Cottonwood area of Northwest Albuquerque in 2012 and was re-elected in 2014. He is vice chair of the Judiciary Committee and a member of the Transportation & Public Works Committee.

A retired Albuquerque Police Department officer, he has carried bills that would expand the state’s as yet unused three strikes law to violent offenders, increase penalties for DWI and make crimes against law enforcement officers a hate crime. Unfortunately in the 2016 regular session, the Democratic-controlled Senate left most of them stuck in committees.

Pacheco believes a life sentence should mean just that — life. He supports reinstating the death penalty in the limited circumstances of the murder of a law enforcement officer or a child and special circumstances such as murder involving kidnapping, torture or rape.

Pacheco was the driving force to repeal the 2003 law that allowed undocumented immigrants to obtain New Mexico driver’s licenses. This year, a compromise bill that brings the state into compliance with the Real ID Act was signed into law. — just in time to keep New Mexicans from having to show a passport to get on an airplane or into a military installation.

Pacheco has used his experience to make a difference in the Legislature and the Journal recommends voters send him back to Santa Fe.

More endorsements for opposed area House races will be published in Thursday’s Journal.

Unopposed Area House Races

Democrats

District 10 — G. Andres Romero*; District 11 — Javier I. Martinez; District 12 — Patricio R. Ruiloba; District 13 — Patricia A. Roybal Caballero; District 14 — Miguel P. Garcia; District 16 — Antonio “Moe” Maestas; District 17 — Deborah A. Armstrong; District 18 — Gail Chasey; District 19 — Sheryl M. Williams Stapleton; District 21 — Debra Marie Sarinana; District 25 — Christine Trujillo; District 26 — Georgene Louis. Republicans

District 28 — Jimmie C. Hall; District 68 — Monica C. Youngblood

* opposed by an independent candidate.