The final week of the 60 day legislative session is here which, like all others, will be followed by backslapping and self-congratulations among the 112 lawmakers and Governor. However, this year the tooting of each other's horns will have to be done virtually. 

What if the legislature jammed the final week with legislation that not only justified the mutual admiration society that we'll see when the session adjourns at noon Saturday, but actually put New Mexico on a transformative path to get out of the bottom of the barrel social condition rankings? What would that look like? Well, glad you asked. . . 

--The first order of business for the transformation is (surprise!) passage of the constitutional amendment to tap a small portion of the state's $22 billion land grant Permanent School Fund for very early childhood education--ages zero to five. That would generate at least $170 million a year and put some 4,000 social workers and educators into New Mexico households with young children. The home visiting component alone would reveal and correct abuse and learning problems that have led to the dysfunctional society we see play out daily in poor educational achievement, off the charts crime, domestic violence and the rest of the  bad stuff. (The amendment has passed the House and is pending in the Senate.) 

--Next order of business for the Big T (transformation, lest you forget) is to put an early end to that $320 million early childhood fund the legislature approved last year as a feeble effort to replace the substantial constitutional amendment. Take that $320 million and dedicate it to a new "Yazzie Fund" to tackle the specific problems cited in the landmark Yazzie lawsuit that led to a court finding that New Mexico is violating the state constitution by not meeting the education needs of public school students, especially "at risk students" who happen to be mainly youngsters of color. Put another $100 million into that fund from the state's overflowing reserves of $2.7 billion An early childhood education fund isn't needed if the constitutional amendment is approved.

---Speaking of the outsized reserves, appropriate $600 million from them immediately (grab your heart, David Abbey ) for a broadband expansion fund. Set aside $50 million or more of that fund to subsidize initial broadband service for lucky but low income households. (That's for you Sen. Ortiz y Pino). Also, bring back and amend the bill already passed that establishes a broadband office to coordinate current broadband efforts. Since so much groundwork has been laid but not been put into action, give the new office just 6 months to come with a comprehensive plan and then begin spending the appropriation which can be leveraged with federal resources for even more impact and get close to the $3 to $5 billion it will take to wire the state. (Kudos to Sen. Padilla and Senate Finance Chair Munoz for work on this. They just need to think bigger.)

Those three items would make the 2021 session one of the most productive and meaningful ever and make Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, who would have to shepherd the plans through, one of the most important legislative leaders in state history. (Hey, just in case anyone is interested.) 

Sen. Mark Moores

A GOP heavyweight is a late entrant in the race for the soon-to-be vacant ABQ congressional seat, and we've got the breaking news. 

ABQ GOP State Senator Mark Moores, who we reported last week was eyeing the race, late Sunday made it official in a message to Republican Central Committee members from the ABQ district who will name a nominee for the upcoming special election to replace ABQ Dem US Rep. Deb Haaland.

Moores, 50, sent his message to 135 committee members and it was forwarded to us by our Senior Alligators. The new contender says he will make his candidacy official today:

The full message is here. 

Moores is a former UNM football standout who stands 6'7 and has been in the Senate since 2013. He will enter the race as the automatic frontrunner, jumping over less politically established candidates who include radio talk show host Eddy Aragon and onetime congressional hopeful Jared Vander Dussen.

While Moores is the odds-on favorite to get the GOP nod, he will still be the underdog against the Dem nominee. The ABQ district is deep blue. No R has been elected to the seat since 2006 and Moores is the only GOP Senator left representing ABQ. But as a congressional nominee Moores would receive invaluable publicity that could position him for a run for Guv in 2022, an office where the R's have a better chance of being competitive. 

In the factionalized NMGOP, Moores in the past has been more associated with the wing of current GOP Chairman Steve Pearce wing than the Gov. Martinez wing. Moores won his NE Heights Senate seat in '12 by defeating attorney Rob Doughty, a favorite of Martinez, who challenged Moores in the GOP primary that year while she was Governor. Martinez named Doughty to the racing commission as well as the UNM Regents. 

Haaland's resignation from the seat she was first elected to in 2018 could come quickly. She is expected to be confirmed as Sec. of Interior by the US Senate today and a vote could come around 3:30 p.m. ABQ time. 

When Haaland's resignation is official the SOS has ten days to set a date for a special election to fill out her term. The special is now expected in June. 

The central committee of the major parties---D, R and Libertarian--could have their nominees in place by early April.

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