Judge: Vetoed bills will become law
Measures take effect immediately; governor plans to appeal ruling
Ten bills that a judge says Gov. Susana Martinez vetoed illegally during this year’s legislative session, including a high-profile measure legalizing research on hemp, will become law after all. For now, at least. State District Judge Sarah Singleton overturned the two-term Republican governor’s vetoes last month and this week denied a request by lawyers representing Martinez to stop the bills from becoming law while they consider appealing the ruling.
An aide to the governor said Martinez plans to appeal nonetheless.
“There’s no question the governor vetoed these bills,” spokesman Michael Lonergan said in an email. “Like we’ve said all along, this is the latest example of Santa Fe politicians wasting time and taxpayer money going to court when they don’t get what they want.”
Singleton’s decision is the first addressing a particular facet of the governor’s veto power. And the legal battle over the bills Martinez tried to scrap could more clearly define — and limit — the executive branch’s power in the future.
The judge reversed the 10 vetoes because Martinez did not provide any explanation when she nixed the measures during an acrimonious stretch of the 60-day legislative session.
Leading Democratic lawmakers, who challenged the vetoes, pointed to a line in the state constitution that says a governor has three days
when lawmakers are in session to either sign a bill or veto it by returning the bill “to the house in which it originated, with his objections.”
The governor argued she acted within her authority, but Singleton agreed with lawmakers. She decided that Martinez owed at least some sort of explanation when she vetoed the bills.
The legislation included measures other than allowing research of industrial hemp. One bill gives local governments a new option to pay for expanding broadband service, and another allows high school students to earn required science and math credits by taking computer classes.
The vetoes caught many legislators by surprise. Though Martinez offered no explanation publicly for vetoing the bills, lawmakers had theories.
The governor had been feuding with Democrats, who control the Legislature. Martinez nixed six of the bills the day after the state Senate voted to override her veto of a bill to allow more sick leave for teachers. The override was championed by a Republican, Sen. Craig Brandt of Rio Rancho. But senators on both sides of the aisle publicly speculated whether Martinez’s vetoes might have been in retaliation for the override. Republican members of the House of Representatives later closed ranks to stop the override attempt.
Before the Secretary of State’s Office began putting the 10 laws onto the books after Singleton’s decision, attorneys for Martinez asked the judge to issue a stay while they considered appealing her decision.
In rejecting that request, Singleton cast doubt on whether the governor will have much of a chance if she files an appeal.
“The likelihood of success on appeal weighs against the issuance of the stay,” Singleton wrote in an order filed Wednesday. “The public interest in giving force to the state constitution and its provisions governing the role of the Legislature and the governor in the enactment of legislation also weighs against the stay.”
Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver said Thursday her office began to chapter the bills — formally putting the legislation into law books — after she received Singleton’s order. Each bill is to take effect immediately.
Democrats cheered Singleton’s decision.
“Better late than never,” said Sen. Jacob Candelaria, D-Albuquerque, who sponsored the legislation to allow high schools to count computer science classes towards the credits students are required to earn in science and math to graduate.
The bill cleared the Legislature without opposition and won support from business groups such as the Association of Commerce and Industry.
Two measures on hemp had been closely watched and created the most explosive discussion after Martinez vetoed them. The sponsor of one of the bills for researching industrial hemp, Democratic Sen. Cisco McSorley of Albuquerque, said he couldn’t wait for Martinez to leave office so New Mexico could progress. McSorley celebrated Thursday after Singleton’s latest ruling.
“I am glad the court upheld our constitution today, and I am glad for the farmers of New Mexico who are finally going to have a cash crop. It is long overdue,” he said in a statement.
McSorley sponsored Senate Bill 6, which had been years in the making and received support from an unlikely coalition of Republicans and Democrats with language to address concerns the governor had previously
raised about legalizing hemp research.
The bill calls for the state Department of Agriculture to issue licenses to grow industrial hemp for research and development purposes. The bill does not mention commercial hemp production, which was part of a 2015 measure that Martinez vetoed. Moreover, the bill includes a provision for training police officers to be able to tell the difference between hemp and marijuana.
An attorney representing the governor, Paul Kennedy, had argued the law would conflict with another piece of legislation in the suit concerning hemp. But Singleton had said that, as on other occasions when the Legislature passes conflicting bills, the most recent one will be considered law.
The governor vetoed more than 140 bills after this year’s 60-day legislative session. She signed about 135. She also used her power to veto individual budget items to take away funding for colleges, universities and the Legislature itself. Martinez reversed the collegiate and legislative vetoes during a special session in May.