Legislative roundup.
Days remaining in session: 22
Doing the time: Sending a picture of your intimate body parts to a child is a crime in New Mexico. But if it is a picture of someone else’s intimate parts, you might be off the hook. Sen. Greg Baca, R-Belen, says this is a loophole in state law. He is proposing to close it as part of a bill that would toughen penalties for crimes against children.
Senate Bill 96 would make it a fourthdegree felony to send a child under 16 an image of any person’s intimate parts using an electronic device. The law would only apply when the sender is four years older than the child receiving the image.
The bill also would expand what is known as Baby Brianna’s Law, which calls for a life sentence for intentional child abuse resulting in death. Currently, state law calls for a life sentence for such killings when a child is under the age of 13. If the victim is 13 or older, the maximum penalty is 18 years in prison. Baca’s proposal would call for a life sentence regardless of the victim’s age.
The bill could meet opposition amid continuing wariness — not least of which is for financial reasons — over expanding criminal sentences.
The bill has been assigned to three committees in the Senate, giving it a long road in just a 30-day session.
Divvying up permanent funds … : How can New Mexico pay to stem its rising crime rate?
Rep. Daymon Ely, D-Corrales, says raising taxes has obviously not worked. Gov. Susana Martinez has vetoed proposals to raise taxes.
“Here’s the problem: We need the money,” Ely told the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee on Tuesday.
Ely is proposing to raise money for public safety initiatives by tapping
two state permanent funds and using the cash for police, prosecutors, public defenders, behavioral health programs and corrections facilities.
The proposal comes as the state grapples with a crime problem that many lawmakers argue is not just a matter of imposing tougher sentences but also putting more officers on the street and providing more treatment for those with mental illnesses or drug addictions.
But using the state’s permanent funds is particularly controversial. Ely’s House Joint Resolution 2, for example, would use half of 1 percent of the $17 billion Land Grant Permanent Fund. That fund is intended for public education, and there is already a proposal wending through the Legislature to use 1 percent from the endowment to expand early childhood programs.
Ely’s HJRes 3 would tap into the Severance Tax Permanent Fund, which is used to finance brickand-mortar projects around the state.
Budget hawks are wary of proposals to use the funds.
“It’s called a permanent fund for a reason,” Rep. Monica Youngblood, R-Albuquerque, told Ely.
But the committee approved both proposals along party lines.
If the resolutions pass the Legislature, voters will have the final say at the ballot box. Quote of the day: “Every year, this seems like Groundhog Day.” — Sen. William Payne, R-Albuquerque, in a Senate Conservation Committee meeting Tuesday, mulling the long-running debate over diverting the Gila River.