John SwiftBird and a group of local drummers sing and drum for the Environmental justice rally at the Roundhouse on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2025. The event was organized by New Mexico No False Solutions (NM NFS) in partnership with grassroots organizations statewide to call upon lawmakers to reject false climate solutions and advance policies that protect our communities, land, water, and public health. Photo by Gabriela Campos/The New Mexican
The Santa Fe New Mexican Staff Report:
Regents commission: New Mexico voters will decide in November whether to create a nominating committee to vet candidates for the boards of regents of the state’s public colleges and universities.
House Joint Resolution 1 passed the Senate on a 34-7 vote. Since governors don’t get veto power over proposed constitutional amendments, having passed both chambers of the Legislature it now heads to the ballot.
The governor would still pick regents from the candidates vetted by the commission, subject to Senate confirmation.
“We’re widening the net of who can apply to be a university regent,” said sponsor Sen. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces. The commission, he said, will ensure “we’re picking our best and brightest.”
Fusion tax credit: A bill that would boost Pacific Fusion’s plans to build a research and manufacturing facility in Albuquerque passed the Senate 36-6 Tuesday.
House Bill 140, which tweaks an existing energy tax credit to clarify that a fusion company can benefit from it, now heads to the desk of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
The bill’s supporters said that while the immediate impact might be to help Pacific Fusion, it will also benefit similar projects down the road and help lure them to the state. The increase in income tax revenue as a result will more than make up the loss from the credit, said Sen. Martin Hickey, D-Albuquerque.
“Many more will come,” Hickey said. “Many, many, many side businesses and suppliers will come here with phenomenal jobs.”
The bill is being sponsored by Sen. Nicole Tobiassen, R-Albuquerque; Republicans backed the bill unanimously while all of the no votes came from Democrats.
License plate data protections: A proposal to curb what proponents have described as “Big Brother”-style sharing of New Mexico license plate camera data with out-of-state officials passed the House and heads next to the governor’s desk.
Senate Bill 40, the ”Driver Privacy and Safety Act,” would require any out-of-state entities seeking that data to first pledge they won’t use it to enforce federal immigration laws, police “protected health care activity” like abortions or gender-affirming care or to investigate people participating in constitutionally protected activities. The measure passed the House 44-22 Tuesday afternoon.
During the debate over the bill, Rep. Stefani Lord, R-Sandia Park, asked about several hypothetical scenarios where the proposal might hamstring law enforcements’ efforts.
“[If] somebody got a tip from a family member in Texas and said, ‘Hey our son is here, he’s illegal, we think he’s going to harm himself or others’ … and they say ‘Hey, we think maybe he’s in Albuquerque,’ and we think he was here, can we look at that camera to see if he’s actually there to save his own life?” Lord asked.
Rep. Elizabeth “Liz” Thomson, D-Albuquerque, though, said the law will protect New Mexicans.
“New Mexicans should be able to trust that the technology police use will keep us safe and not infringe on our privacy or be weaponized by harmful out-of-state actors,” she said.
Troops at the polls: A proposal aimed at rebuffing President Donald Trump’s calls for a federal takeover of elections passed the state House Tuesday evening after hours of roadblocks from Republicans.
State representatives voted 41-26 in favor of Senate Bill 264, which would create a new section of the state Election Code making it a fourth-degree felony for a person “acting under color of law or otherwise” to deploy troops in the country’s civil, military or naval services to New Mexico’s polling places, unless necessary to “repel armed enemies of the United States.”
Advocacy organization Conservation Voters New Mexico heralded the bill as making New Mexico the “first state in the nation to explicitly criminalize ICE presence at polls.”
“Today, New Mexico reinforced our standing as the state with the strongest elections in the country,” CEO Demis Foster said in a statement. “We do not stand idly by when threats are made to suppress and intimidate our communities and our democracy.”
Rep. John Block, R-Alamogordo, put forward an amendment that would instead require New Mexico voters to prove their citizenship to register to vote and spent about three hours expounding on the proposal and fielding questions on it.
Rep. Art De La Cruz, D-Albuquerque, criticized the amendment as being unrelated to the initial bill.
“I’m not opposed to voter ID,” De La Cruz said. “But … SB 264 is talking about troops at elections and being armed at polls and that kind of thing.”
Block’s amendment was tabled on a 42-25 vote.
Senate Bill 261, a related measure tightening the state’s ban on guns at polling places, has already passed the Senate and was referred to the House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee. A hearing has not yet been scheduled.
Quotes of the day: “Is it weird that my shoulders are holding grudges from 2007?” —Sen. Nicole Tobiassen, R-Albuquerque, during debate over massage therapy regulation bill SB 246.