House committee changes planned

Dem leader sends out proposal memo

SANTA FE — With the 2017 legislative session just two weeks away, incoming House Democratic leaders are planning to reconfigure the chamber’s committee structure — just as Republicans did two years ago.

Rep. Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, who has been nominated by House Democrats to serve as speaker of the House once the session starts on Jan. 17, said last week that he has sent a memo to House members outlining various proposed changes to committee names and functions.

While the changes still have to be approved once lawmakers convene this month at the state Capitol, they could signal a shift in priorities under Democratic leadership and offer clues as to how legislation proposed during the 60-day session will be routed.

Democrats reclaimed control of the House in November’s general election, just two years after Republicans had won a majority, and will enter the 60-day session with a 38-32 advantage.

The changes being proposed by Egolf and other House Democratic leaders would create some new committees while eliminating others.

In all, there would be 13 standing House committees, one more than there are now. But the creation of an additional committee would not mean additional expenses and could be covered by current funding levels, Egolf said.

One change would involve creating a House Labor and Economic Development Committee. Democrats had objected two years ago to a GOP push to abolish a labor committee and replace it with the House

Business and Employment Committee.

Another change would involve bringing back the House Taxation and Revenue Committee, which had been recast as the House Ways and Means Committee after Republicans won control of the House in 2014.

And legislation dealing with veterans would be vetted by a House State Government, Indian and Veterans Committee, which would also consider any proposed constitutional amendments, Egolf said.

He said he’s hopeful a rule change allowing the reconfiguration of the House committees could be voted on as early as the session’s opening day.

Legislative committees are typically the first place proposed bills are debated and voted upon. Lobbyists and members of the public are usually allowed to provide testimony on legislation. If bills are approved in committee, they then advance to the full House or Senate for a f loor vote.

Meanwhile, Egolf also said he plans to nominate Lisa Ortiz McCutcheon, a longtime assistant for top-ranking House Democrats, to be the House’s next chief clerk. The chief clerk oversees the House’s voting procedures and day-to-day operations.

If approved by a vote of all House members, she will replace Denise Greenlaw Ramonas, who got the job in 2015 after Republicans won control of the House.

“She’s got a lot of friends in both political parties,” Egolf said of Ortiz McCutcheon, while also pledging she would have a bipartisan staff in the clerk’s office.