Legislative scorecard: What passed, what failed [The Santa Fe New Mexican]

Feb. 17--Here's a quick look at bills that passed during the 2012 session of the New Mexico Legislature, and what failed to get through before time ran out on Thursday:

PASSED

TAXES

Senate Bill 9: Sponsored by Sen. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe; would require out-of-state big-box retailers with stores 30,000 square feet or larger to file state corporate income-tax returns the same way their in-state counterparts do.

House Bill 10: Sponsored by Rep. Terry McMillan, R-Las Cruces; would provide a $1,000 tax credit for any New Mexico employer that hires a military veteran full-time.

HB 184: Sponsored by Rep. David Doyle, R-Albuquerque; would end so-called tax pyramiding for the manufacturing and construction industries. Pyramiding occurs when businesses are taxed on services that are then incorporated into a final product, which also is taxed.

EDUCATION

HB 14: Sponsored by Rep. Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque; would establish the six-year "K-3 Plus" pilot project as a permanent program in the Public Education Department. The bill would provide funding for additional educational time for disadvantaged students in kindergarten through third grade.

HEALTH

SB 215: Sponsored by Sen. Bernadette Sanchez, D-Albuquerque; would establish an advisory council for prescription drug misuse, overdose prevention and pain management.

SB 240: Sponsored by Sen. Cisco McSorley, D-Albuquerque; would create a Medical Marijuana Fund sustained by the producer and patient production licensing fees currently being collected by the Department of Health.

GOVERNMENT REFORM

PRC reform: Three proposed constitutional amendments to reform the scandal-ridden Public Regulation Commission cleared the Legislature and will be put before voters in November. These are House Joint Resolution 11, sponsored by Rep. Joe Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, which would allow the Legislature to establish minimum education and professional qualifications for commissioners; HJR 16, sponsored by House Republican Leader Tom Taylor of Farmington, which would place the oversight of corporations with the Secretary of State's Office instead of with the Public Regulation Commission; and HJR 17, sponsored by Rep. Henry "Kiki" Saavedra, D-Albuquerque, which would make the Insurance Division an independent office, removing it from the PRC's control.

SB 197: Sponsored by Rep. Bill Payne, R-Albuquerque; would make it possible to require state officials convicted of corruption-related crimes to forfeit part of their state pensions.

BUSINESS

SB 32: Sponsored by Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming; would lower what employers pay into New Mexico's unemployment fund this year but raise the amount in 2013.

HB 97: Sponsored by Rep. Ben Lujan, D-Nambe; would revise the State Procurement Code to establish a resident veteran preference of 5 percent over and above the current resident business preference of 5 percent.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

House Joint Resolution 26: Sponsored by Rep. Antonio "Moe" Maestas, D- Albuquerque; proposed constitutional amendment, which will be on the November general election ballot, would make the state Public Defender's Office independent of the Governor's Office.

SB 59: Sponsored by Sen. Mary Jane Garcia, D-Dona Ana; would make the murder of a child under 13 an aggravating circumstance for purposes of capital felony sentencing. That means the killer could get a life sentence.

SB 2: Sponsored by Sen. Michael Sanchez, D-Belen; would establish procedures for expungement of records when there has been an identity theft or a wrongful arrest, indictment or charge.

Scrap metal: HB 118, sponsored by Rep. Debbie Rodella, D-Espanola, and SB 67, sponsored by Sen. Steve Neville, R-Farmington, would require secondhand or scrap-metal dealers to register with the New Mexico Department of Regulation and Licensing, which would keep a record of any secondhand metal transactions. Law enforcement would have access to a department database of those transactions.

OTHER

HB 191: Sponsored by Rep. Jim Trujillo, D-Santa Fe; capital-outlay bill authorizes about $129.8 million from severance tax bond revenue and approximately $6.9 million from other state funds for various capital-outlay projects statewide. The bill also authorizes spending $30 million from severance tax bond revenue in fiscal years 2013 and 2012.

SB 6: Sponsored by Sen. Carlos Cisneros, D-Questa; would authorize the issuance of general obligation (property tax) bonds totaling $134 million. The proposed bond issues include $1.3 million for projects at Santa Fe Indian School plus funding for senior citizen facility improvements, library acquisition and construction, capital expenditures for higher education facilities, a special school and a tribal institution.

SB 10: Sponsored by Wirth; would require written confirmation from local zoning officials that a condominium complies with local zoning density requirements. The bill sprang from long-standing practice in Santa Fe of developers creating condominiums from guesthouses that don't comply with city zoning rules.

HB 98: Sponsored by Rep. Rudolpho Martinez, D-Bayard; would allow those who serve six years or more in the New Mexico National Guard to qualify for veterans' benefits.

SB 56: Sponsored by Senate Republican Leader Stuart Ingle of Portales; would allow the transport of oversized loads of hay on state roads. The bill was introduced in response to ongoing drought conditions in the state. The governor signed this into law before the session ended.

CABINET CONFIRMATIONS

--Corrections Secretary Gregg Marcantel; Finance and Administration Secretary Tom Clifford; Economic Development Secretary Jon Barela; Indian Affairs Secretary Arthur Allison; Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Secretary John Bemis; and Aging and Long-term Services Secretary Reta Ward.

FAILED

IMMIGRATION

HB 103: Sponsored by Rep. Andy Nunez, I-Hatch; would have repealed the 2003 law that allows undocumented immigrants to get driver's licenses.

EDUCATION

Social promotion: SB 96, sponsored by Smith, and HB 69, sponsored by Rep. Mary Helen Garcia, D-Las Cruces, would have required that third-graders who were not proficient in reading not be promoted to the fourth grade.

SB 30: Sponsored by Sen. <person>Sander Rue, R-Albuquerque; would have required that the names and salaries of almost all state employees be posted on the Sunshine Portal website.

HB 249: Sponsored by Rep. Dennis Roch, R-Texaco; would have required school districts to implement a new teacher and principal effectiveness evaluation system based on student growth and achievement -- not solely based on student scores from a single state test.

TAXES

HB 258: Sponsored by Rep. Ed Sandoval, D-Albuquerque; would have mandated a review of "economically targeted" income tax credits.

ELECTIONS

SB 11: Sponsored by Wirth; would have required all "independent" groups spending money for political ads for or against candidates to disclose their donors. The bill passed the Senate unanimously but died awaiting hearing on the House floor.

Voter ID: HB 113, sponsored by Rep. Cathrynn Brown, R-Carlsbad; HB 207, sponsored by Rep. Jim Smith, R-Sandia Park; and HB 235, sponsored by Rep. Dianne Hamilton, R-Silver City, would have required voters to show photo identification to vote (though Hamilton's and Smith's bills had mechanisms in which photo ID would not have been required.)

HJR 19: Sponsored by Nunez; would have allowed voters in the general election to decide whether unaffiliated voters should be allowed to participate in state-funded Democratic and Republican primaries.

SB 218: Sponsored by Michael Sanchez; would make the option to cast a straight-ticket ballot part of state law.

PENSION REFORM

SB 150: Sponsored by Ingle; would have set a minimum retirement age for members of the Educational Retirement Board and changed how much those members contributed into the system.

HB 269: Sponsored by Stewart; would have set a minimum retirement age for members of the Educational Retirement Board.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY

SB 37: Sponsored by Payne; would have eliminated the statute of limitations for any homicide.

SB 5: Sponsored by Sen. Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque; would have given the governor and local governments more power to restrict fireworks during drought conditions.

HJR 6: Sponsored by Rep. Dennis Kintigh, R-Roswell; would have allowed voters in the general election to decide whether the death penalty should be reinstated in New Mexico.

OTHER

HB 278: Sponsored by Rep. Larry Larranaga, R-Albuquerque; would have clarified that the state purchasing or a central purchasing office has authority to immediately suspend a business for up to 90 days for cause.

CABINET CONFIRMATIONS

--Public Education Secretary-Designate Hanna Skandera never got a hearing in Senate Rules Committee.

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