Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
At noon on Tuesday, the first session of the 51st Legislature begins its 60-day term.
Curry, Roosevelt and Quay counties are represented by six legislators. Five of these legislators are Republican. One is a Democrat. One, Republican Sen. Pat Woods, is beginning his first term as a legislator.
In general, the legislature convenes in regular sessions on the third Tuesday in January each year. It meets for 60 days in odd-numbered years and 30 days in even-numbered years. Between regular sessions, legislators serve on interim committees that study a variety of issues.
The Legislature comprises a 70-member House of Representatives and a 42-member Senate. The members are unpaid for their legislative service, but do receive a daily living allowance for each day of official legislative work. Legislators are elected from districts of approximately equal population.
Several counties with small populations may be combined to form a single district. For example, Google Maps shows that Rep. Dennis Roch (R-Texico) drives 250 miles, almost four and a half hours, from his home in Texico, near the southeast corner of his district, to Raton, near the northwest corner, on the Colorado border in Colfax County.
Of the 70 members of the House, 33 are Republicans; 36 are Democrats. One is unaffiliated. Of the 42 members of the NM Senate, 14 are Republicans; 28 are Democrats. Sen. Stuart Ingle (R-Portales) is the Senate's minority floor leader.
Representatives must be at least 21 years old and Senators at least 25 years old.
The source for all this information is http://www.nmlegis.gov
Governor Martinez' 2014 fiscal year budget proposal
On Thursday, Gov. Susana Martinez announced her state budget proposal for the 2014 fiscal year. According to the governor's office, the budget calls for significant investments in education reform, health care for those in need, and economic development efforts to help small businesses train and hire new workers and better allow New Mexico to compete for jobs.
2014 budget in brief
Public Education
Education is 44 percent increase of the total new spending proposed this year
Medicaid
Amount of "New Money" Not Allocated in FY14 Budget Proposal: $51 million Note: Governor Martinez is proposing to use much of this funding for an aggressive plan to make New Mexico competitive with other states and fuel New Mexico's job growth.
Source: http://governor.state.nm.us/ Fiscal_Year_2014_Budget_Proposal.aspx.
Legislative assignments
Standing committees hold hearings, review and amend legislation during the legislative session. Interim committees meet between sessions to deal with issues and develop legislation for the next term. Here are the committee assignments for the six legislators who serve Curry, Roosevelt and Quay counties:
Standing committee assignments
Ingle
Committees' Committee, Rules (ranking member)
Crook
Investigatory Subcommittee of the Rules and Order of Business Committee, Rules and Order of Business, Tax and Revenue
Dodge
Education, Enrolling and Engrossing "A" (Bill finalizing), Tax and Revenue
Roch
Education, Rules and Order of Business, Tax and Revenue
Wooley
Tax and Revenue
Interim committee assignments
(M) after name means member. (A) after name means Advisory. Members can vote. Advisors cannot.
Indian Affairs (A), Legislative Ethics (M), Investments and Pensions Oversight (A), Legislative Council (M), Legislative Finance (M), Rules (ranking member)
Economic and Rural Development (M), Revenue Stabilization and Tax Policy (M), Water and Natural Resources (M)
Legislative Council (M), New Mexico Finance Authority Oversight (A), Revenue Stabilization and Tax Policy (M), Water and Natural Resources (A)
Economic and Rural Development (A), Legislative Education Study (A), LESC School Bus Transportation Subcommittee (M), Military and Veterans Affairs (A)
Legislative Education Study (M), LESC School Bus Committee (M), Mortgage Finance Authority Act Oversight (A)
Legislative Education Study (A), Military and Veterans Affairs (A), Revenue Stabilization and Tax Policy (M)
Legislators' priorities
Curry and Roosevelt County state legislators gave high priority to education reform; financial reforms to keep state government solvent; and economic development: Finding ways to increase business growth in the state.
Here are some samples of what they have to say about some of these issues:
Education:
Rep. George Dodge (D-Santa Rosa) said teachers and administrators need better pay and said teachers and administrators should have a large role in the conversation on education reform
Rep. Dennis Roch (R-Texico), an educator, said teacher advancement should be based on multi-dimensional measures of effectiveness, rather than on a dossier assembled by teachers and approved by administrators.
Sen. Stuart Ingle (R-Portales) agreed with Gov. Susana Martinez that ensuring that New Mexico students learn to read effectively in the early grades should be the top priority in educational reform.
Economic Development:
Sen. Pat Woods (R-Broadview) believes a reduction in the state corporate income tax would help improve the state's business climate. He said he is disturbed that the state's largest employer is state government, not private-sector business.
Rep. Bob Wooley (R-Roswell) also believes the corporate income tax should be reduced from 7.5% to 5.% percent of income, but believes more tax protections should be offered to the oil and gas industries, which he called the state's "lifeblood."
Dodge sees promise in developing wind energy in the state. He also said he favors more attention on economic development in smaller, rural communities.
Financial reforms:
Ingle says the state should take a serious look at retirement benefits for teachers and other public employees. The coming wave of retiring baby-boomers and poor performance of investment securities threatens the sustainability of state retirement funds, he said.
Woods said he wants to reform workers compensation, and make changes in capital outlay legislation in order to "stabilize our finances for the future."
Rep. Anna Crook (R-Clovis) said "We're all going to have to bite the bullet when the money's not there. We're going to have to cut down on programs." In addition, she said, she does not support tax increases.
Legislative Calendar
Compensation for legislators
No member of the legislature receives a salary for service. Each member does receive expenses on a per-day basis for living expenses at rates established by the Internal Revenue Service for Santa Fe. The current rate is $153 per day, according to IRS documents.
They also receive payment to cover the cost of traveling to and from Santa Fe once each session at IRS standard rates. The current IRS mileage rate for business travel is 56.5 cents per mile, according to an IRS notice..
In addition, legislators receive per-day expenses at IRS rates for attending meetings of interim committees between legislative sessions.
Contacting your representatives
House of Representatives
Senate
