Chaotic world of part-time lawmakers
Life at the state Capitol was stodgy and predictable when Republican Susana Martinez was governor. She carried on a cold war with Democrats who controlled the Legislature. It got so ugly that Martinez ignored the Democrats even when she vetoed their bills. She would spike measures that legislators had refined for a month, then refuse to explain what was wrong with them.
Democratic lawmakers sued Martinez, claiming her icy style strangled government. They had no chance to rewrite legislation if Martinez wouldn’t tell them why she objected to it.
The state Supreme Court sided with legislators. It overturned 10 of Martinez’s vetoes, but communication remained almost a myth. Martinez couldn’t get her crime-and-punishment agenda through the Legislature. And lawmakers remained at the mercy of Martinez’s veto pen. All she had to do was write a sentence or two outlining her reasons when she killed a bill.
After eight unproductive years, Martinez is back in private life. Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham is the governor now. She starts working with the state’s 112 legislators on Tuesday, when they arrive in Santa Fe for a 60-day session.
With the Martinez melodrama finally canceled, there are real possibilities to improve public schools and adequately staff important agencies, such as child protective services.
Still, Lujan Grisham has walked into a dysfunctional Capitol, mostly because New Mexico’s Legislature is an anachronism.
Forty-nine states pay their legislators a base salary. New
Mexico does not. It operates a citizen Legislature that actually excludes most citizens from running for office.
Many younger people who could make a contribution to the Legislature cannot afford to serve. They need to make a living.
So the New Mexico Legislature is top-heavy with retirees, public employees, Realtors and lawyers.
New Mexico decided not to pay legislators a base salary when it became a state in 1912, and that’s still the law.
But in 1912, New Mexico had but 330,000 residents. In those languid farm-to-market days, an unpaid Legislature might have been acceptable. It no longer is.
Most legislators in New Mexico know less about the inner workings of government than the staff they are supposed to direct and the lobbyists they are supposed to keep at bay.
I’m waiting to see which of them is brave enough to introduce a constitutional amendment to pay state legislators a reasonable salary — a change that would create more competition in elections and improve talent at the Capitol.
As it stands, lawmakers in New Mexico have either 30 or 60 days each year to craft a responsible state budget and consider other legislation. These tight timelines lead to rash decisions and sloppiness.
For instance, legislators worked haphazardly on the last night of the session in 2013 to piece together a massive bill that was supposed to improve the state’s economy. The measure included reductions in state funding to cities and counties so corporations could receive tax breaks.
Martinez’s theory, and that of most legislators, was that corporations would expand and hire more people if they received a tax cut.
The trickle-down effect never seems to work, and this case was no exception.
Martinez’s administration miscalculated the cost of the tax cuts. This threw the state budget into chaos for two years, leading to deficits and costly special legislative sessions.
Making matters worse, some corporations pocketed the savings on taxes and cut their workforce.
It’s not always amateur hour in the Capitol.
The most powerful legislator in New Mexico is 77-year-old Sen. John Arthur Smith, a man with silver hair, a sonorous voice and a good work ethic. Smith, D-Deming, chairs the Senate Finance Committee. He knows more about the state’s budget than any other lawmaker.
His knowledge is so encyclopedic that many of his colleagues rely on him instead of doing their own homework. If John Arthur is satisfied, they see no need to dig into the details for themselves.
This leaves it to Smith and a handful of other legislators who are versed in the budget to set the state’s course.
Other legislators are along for the ride, like tourists with offices and titles.
Every government is full of imperfections. Not many, though, are as unsound as New Mexico’s.
Replacing Martinez with Lujan Grisham should be a step forward. But there are miles to go in a state that treats legislating more as a hobby than an important job.