Thursday, June 04, 2020Clippings From Our Newsroom Floor On The Election That Was
Who will be the next President Pro Tem, the crucial position that determines the committee assignments of senators? Sen. Mary Kay Papen has long held the post, voted in with the help of Republicans, but now it appears with her defeat and the death of the conservative Senate coalition that it will be an all Democratic decision. The race to replace her is already underway. The names of ABQ Senator Daniel Ivey-Soto and Pete Campos of Las Vegas are high on the list. Ivey-Soto was denied the chairmanship of Senate Judiciary by Papen who gave the prize to Sen. Cervantes, an old family friend, so Ivey-Soto is looking to advance. Campos once challenged Papen for the post and lost. But his vote against repealing an outdated abortion statute became a key issue in the campaign against the four conservative Dem Senators defeated Tuesday. Progressives fielded an opponent against Campos because of that vote but he won re-election, garnering 70 percent. Another player: Linda Lopez. Pro Tem? Majority Leader? Will legalized marijuana now make a comeback? It could. The new likely Senators are for it. The 2021 session could be the year the pot backers finally win the day after failing to advance their cause this year. Will the proposed constitutional amendment to tap the Land Grant Permanent Fund for very early childhood education be another measure that finally sees life now that the coalition is passing into history? Backers say they see it passing in the 2021 session, having a special election after the session for voter approval and taking effect before July 1, 2021 in time for the start of the budget year. Don't expect much infighting at the June 18 special legislative session to address the budget crisis. The fight is out of Smith and his allies. They will approve moving some of the state's $1.9 billion in reserve to the general fund as well as available federal monies. The Governor will have a few other items to address, including a small business loan relief package.
Taxes could be the fly in the ointment for MLG. Progressives could starting demanding tax hikes to avoid budget cuts, an uncomfortable position for a Governor who adheres mainly to the middle of the road.
Will Democrats make inroads into GOP held state Senate seats in the ABQ area? They are more confident about taking out GOP Senators Candace Gould and Senator Sander Rue after Tuesday's primary results. They believe they also have a shot at taking the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Bill Payne in the ABQ NE Heights. R's will be playing defense as they try to avoid a repeat of the '18 disaster when they lost all their Bernalillo County House seats except one. Topics that could rise to the top under the new policy order: Gun control, a roll back of the Martinez-Richardson tax cuts, an increase in the minimum wage, more resources to combat child abuse and a focus on the Navajo Reservation where the coronavirus has raged. And, of course, a repeal of that outdated abortion law that coalition Democrats defeated and which was partly responsible for their defeats. Do you think that measure may now pass? ALLIGATOR ALLEY  All we can say to the critics is: Did any among them predict on the public record what happened Tuesday night? The answer is no. And did any of them predict Trump would win the presidency in 2016? No. Predictions are fun and entertaining but not to be taken to the bank. The Alligators are not "toothless" as one of the critics blasted. They just get their teeth knocked in once in a while because they are willing to show them. Thanks for tuning in here and to our election broadcast this week. Reporting from Albuquerque, I'm Joe Monahan and this is. . . The Home of New Mexico Politics. E-mail your news and comments. (newsguy@yahoo.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here.   (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2020 |
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