Legislative roundup
Days remaining in session: 16 Time bill marches on: Sen. Cliff Pirtle, R-Roswell, has been trying for years to pass a bill to make Mountain Daylight Time permanent in New Mexico and end the state’s practice of springing forward and falling back with daylight saving time. The Senate on Thursday approved his proposal, Senate Bill 239, on a 26-15 vote.
Supporters call it it the Family Time Bill because, as Pirtle told The New Mexican, “It gives you an extra hour at night to spend with your family.”
While the title of the bill actually is “Mountain Daylight Time as Permanent New Mexico Time,” the bill would have New Mexico request to be part of Central Standard Time year-round.
If Pirtle’s proposal clears the state House of Representatives and Gov. Susana Martinez signs it, the governor would then have to ask the U.S. secretary of transportation to transfer New Mexico to Central Standard Time.
Inspection bill fails: A House committee on Thursday blocked a bill to require state inspections of every clinic or hospital that performs elective abortions.
Under House Bill 37, a task force of five employees from the Department of Health and the Children, Youth and Families Department would have investigated whether infants had been born alive at abortion clinics, and if any who were had received appropriate medical care.
The bill also carried felony penalties for anyone who killed or attempted to kill a born-alive infant.
The sponsor, Rep. Rod Montoya, R-Farmington, said his proposal was not an antiabortion bill but a commitment to making sure that every infant born alive is cared for properly.
The House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee tabled his bill on a 3-2 party-line vote. Democrats opposed the measure.
One committee member, Rep. Debbie Armstrong, D-Albuquerque, said Montoya’s bill was unnecessary.
“There are already laws on the books, such as criminal homicide, that protect people of all ages,” she said.
Death penalty bill postponed: A House committee postponed debate and a vote on a bill that would reinstate the death penalty for people convicted of killing a police officer or child. After members of the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee ran out of time, the chairman said he would have to reschedule discussion on other bills on Thursday’s agenda, including House Bill 72, the capital punishment proposal.
This is the second time discussion on HB 72 has been postponed.
Looking ahead: The state Senate is expected to vote Friday on a bill that would legalize research into industrial hemp.
The bill already passed the House, so it’s likely it would go to Gov. Susana Martinez for her signature if the House agrees to an amendment made by a Senate committee.
The Senate is scheduled to meet at 11 a.m.