For Video Click Here
http://www.newmexicoinfocus.org/inFocus/archives/3147
By Matt Grubs, NMiF Producer
Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez says a powerful Senate committee chairman – and fellow Democrat – should back off his pledge to let a proposed constitutional amendment wither and die on the legislative vine.
Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, is the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and told NMiF yesterday that he doesn’t see any change in the votes he’s counted in his committee both for and against the measure and therefore doesn’t plan a hearing for the proposal.
“Counting is a real interesting thing,” Sanchez mused Tuesday afternoon, “Sometimes you can be right on and sometimes you might miss it by one or two.”
The measure is a signature piece of legislation for the most powerful lawmaker in the Senate. It would increase disbursements from the state’s massive permanent funds and funnel that money toward early childhood education programs. Critics say taking the proposed 6.5% slice of the funds every year is an unsustainable practice.
Sen. Sanchez and other supporters say a sunset provision that would eliminate the increased payout a decade from its inception would provide a safety net for the funds, as would a part of the bill that would stop the early childhood money from flowing if the fund balances dropped too low.
The Belen Democrat said Senator Smith will have the final say on the hearing. Regardless of support for the measure in the Senate as a whole, Sen. Sanchez won’t “blast” the bill out of the Senate Finance Committee using a procedural maneuver from the Senate floor.
Comments are closed.