Egolf: Data shows complaints on bill limit unfounded

GOP says Dems get advantage; speaker says they sponsor more legislation anyway

Republican lawmakers have assailed a proposal to limit the number of bills that each of New Mexico’s 70 state representatives would be able to introduce for the upcoming 60-day legislative session.

They say the five-bill limit gives Democrats, who have nearly twice as many members in the House of Representatives, an unfair advantage.

But House Speaker Brian Egolf, a Santa Fe Democrat, contends the proposal would actually put “much less of a constraint” on Republicans — and the number of bills filed in previous 60-day sessions seems to support his assertion.

House Democrats have filed more bills than Republicans in all but one of the 60-day sessions since 2011, according to data compiled by the Legislative Council Service, which

is the drafting and legal research agency for the Legislature.

The only exception was in 2015, which marked the brief period Republicans were in control of the chamber for the first time in 60 years. But even then, House Republicans filed only 14 more bills than their counterparts.

“I think it’s really interesting that the other party’s leadership immediately went into the mode of criticizing and claiming unfairness before they’ve had an opportunity to see the numbers and realize that their claims of unfairness are not accurate,” Egolf said last week.

Egolf said Tuesday that every comment he has received from the public and members of the Democratic caucus about the five-bill limit has been positive.

“It’s going to be very helpful in focusing the work and making sure the most important things get taken care of,” he said.

Last week, Egolf said that House Minority Leader Jim Townsend’s claims that the proposal gave Democrats an advantage was “completely wrong.”

“The Republicans are at a disadvantage in the House of Representatives because they lost the election badly, and they have they have far fewer members,” Egolf said. “But saying that every member gets five pieces of legislation, there’s no advantage or disadvantage. Everyone is treated equally.”

Townsend, of Artesia, said the math tells a different story.

“He says it’s equal. Well, it’s not equal because he gets five times 45, and I get five times 25,” Townsend said in a recent interview. “So that’s not fair. I mean, it’s a great way to tell you that we’re going to do it equitably when he knows that the result is that he can get Democrat bills through at a much higher rate.”

Egolf said Townsend’s complaint is not against him but against the voters of New Mexico.

“The voters spoke and they gave the Republicans 25 seats in the House and they gave Democrats 45,” he said. “That’s the facts.”

The proposed five-bill limit, which Egolf said was the brainchild of the Democratic caucus, is designed to help the Legislature run efficiently during what likely will be a largely online session due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Unlike the House, the state Senate does not intend to set limits on bills, said Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe.

Under the proposal for the House, Democrats would be able to introduce 225 bills, compared with 125 for Republicans during the session, which begins Jan. 19.

Egolf said the proposal would “basically level the playing field” because each party “gets the same proportionate opportunity to introduce legislation.” He also said it would help to prioritize the work of the House and help the body focus on the most important issues.

“We’re going to be dealing with an incredibly challenging situation of conducting a virtual session,” Egolf said. “By asking members to focus on the most important issues and to introduce legislation that is going to potentially have the most positive impact, the greatest positive impact, we’re making sure that we’re spending the time during the session working on the issues that are the most important.”

Sta≠ writer Robert Nott contributed to this report.