July 18 – The opening day – and closing day – of New Mexico’s special legislative session ranged from peculiar to bizarre.
Some Republicans praised the Democratic governor. Michelle Lujan Grisham for being a courageous executive eager to combat what they called the crime crisis.
Some Democrats criticized Lujan Grisham for ineffectiveness and not doing her homework.
Democrats said the governor recycled a crime-fighting proposal that has been state law for 17 years. Worse still, they accused Lujan Grisham’s administration of keeping millions of dollars allocated by lawmakers to reduce crime by helping people who are addicted, homeless or mentally ill.
Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, a liberal leader in the 112-member Legislature, was tougher than any lawmaker in Lujan Grisham. A Democrat from Albuquerque, Ortiz y Pino highlighted the governor’s interest in the forced treatment of people with mental illnesses who break the law.
“We don’t have adequate services right now for people who want them, who would voluntarily enter a treatment program, but there isn’t space,” Ortiz y Pino said.
His message to fellow senators was clear: forced treatment is only intended to put more troubled people in prison cells. It will not reduce addiction, mental illness, or crime per se.
Ortiz y Pino criticized Lujan Grisham’s administration for doing little to help with treatment, even though lawmakers have appropriated money to state agencies for that purpose.
“We gave the Division of Behavioral Health Services $20 million to expand services,” Ortiz y Pino said. “The $20 million we appropriated three years ago was not spent. We reappropriated it last year, and $2 million was spent, maybe.”
Sen. Joe CervantesD-Las Cruces, said the Legislature’s Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee welcomed Lujan Grisham’s call for a special session on crime, only to discover failure after failure in her approach.
“We developed a considered and deliberative process. We have scheduled an exhaustive number of interim committee meetings,” Cervantes said of lawmakers. “As time went on, we began to recognize some very serious deficiencies in the proposed legislation.”
One difficulty was the governor’s inconsistency. Cervantes said assisted outpatient treatment would initially be part of his agenda for the session. So her group withdrew the idea, only to falter again.
“It’s been a frustrating process. And the reason, in large part for me, that it’s been frustrating is that the schedule and the bills have changed month to month, week to week, and hour to hour,” Cervantes said. “In the last 24 hours we are seeing new proposals that were never presented, that were never considered for this special session.”
In addition to criticism of the governor for organizational failures, Cervantes said Lujan Grisham pushed for the passage of redundant legislation.
Lujan Grisham’s publicists announced an item for the special session, saying, “Inconsistent crime and ballistics reports by local law enforcement agencies hamper effective criminal investigations.” The solution proposed by the governor was a new law that requires the reporting of crimes at the local level, with information flowing to her Department of Public Security.
Cervantes said the governor’s idea is already codified in the Uniform Crime Reporting System, a state law passed in 2007. That measure already designates the state Department of Public Safety as “the central repository for collecting, maintaining, analyzing and reporting activities of criminal incidents from law enforcement agencies.”
If an executive department is not doing required work, it is up to the governor to resolve the issue. Perhaps Lujan Grisham’s team was so busy drafting a new state law that they didn’t realize that a nearly identical measure had been in effect since George W. Bush was in the White House. Or perhaps there is a different explanation.
“I’ve been here a long time,” Cervantes said. “I’m used to seeing existing laws reworded, renamed, some words changed to make it look like we’re doing something.”
Members of the Senate and House of Representatives adjourned on Thursday, at least temporarily ending the special session after five hours.
Lujan Grisham may have wasted only about $60,000 for a partial staff day in parliament, plus allowances for legislators’ expenses and mileage reimbursement.
Like a taxi driver’s meter, the total could continue to count if she brings lawmakers back for more madness.
It doesn’t take a political scientist to understand that lawmakers must work during this time to develop meaningful crime-fighting bills for the 60-day session that begins in January.
As for Lujan Grisham, she doesn’t receive bouquets for effort, stubbornness, or arrogance.
Cervantes, Ortiz y Pino and the president of the Chamber, Javier Martínez, are good at what they do. They can provide helpful advice on which crime bills to introduce in January.
The question is: would the governor do her part? By that I mean, would she have time to listen?
Ringside Seat is an opinion column about people, politics and news. Contact Milan Simonich at msimonich@sfnewmexican.com or 505-986-3080.
