New Oil Boom Surplus Blows The Roof Off The Roundhouse; Billions Upon Billions; Historic Revenue Eruption Challenges Leaders, Also: MLG slow Rolls BernCo DA Appointment; What Gives? And: Going Where Others Fear; Into The Weeds Of The State Senate

First, the easy stuff.  

With the state forecasting record reserves for the budget year that ends next June and the expected surplus for the budget year after that erupting like a volcano to at least $3.5 billion, it's a no-brainer that Santa Fe needs to start preparing to send a bunch of that cash into the pockets of Mr. and Mrs. New Mexico. 

The Governor says the state distributed some $1 billion in tax rebates and other relief from the oil boom this year. The new gargantuan surplus demands a repeat:

--All New Mexicans should share in the bounty and $1 billion should be a starting point for next year. At minimum, checks of $1,200 for every taxpayer (and nontaxpayer) should be on the table. And with no household income limits or other restrictions. 

--The state should now permanently exempt all Social Security income from taxation, not just for those with incomes below $100,000 or $150,000 per household. 

--The newly approved $175 annual child tax credit can now easily be increased for several years.

--An income tax holiday of at least two years for residents earning under $35,000 should be enacted at the '23 legislative session.

That's the easy stuff--unless you're a miser. Now the hard stuff, like housing and crime:

--$500 million for housing for the low income and homeless in ABQ, Santa Fe and Las Cruces. Some of this could be in the form of bonds to be paid over decades with surplus dedicated to the repayments. In ABQ, Mayor Keller already has a comprehensive plan for the housing dilemma that state money could be plugged into. 

--Free and no-delay care for any New Mexican seeking help for substance abuse. The cost? Unknown. But setting this as a goal would go a long way in tamping down the rampant addiction that is behind so many of today's problems, especially crime. Certainly the money is now there. And so is the stubborn problem.

The spending party has just started (hold on to your hearts, budget hawks). We await more ideas from across the state. Money is no longer the issue; implementation is our challenge.

MLG STALLS DA PICK

Say what? MLG has extended the deadline to apply for the vacancy of Bernalillo County District Attorney until December 23. She gave no reason. And in the middle of an ongoing crime wave. 

The old deadline of Dec. 2 came and went but no decision followed. Monday brought the abrupt announcement that she was reopening the process and applications will now be taken until December 23. We interrupted one of our Legal Beagles buying candy canes at Target and asked them: "What's up?":

This decision appears to mean there will be no new district attorney seated January 1 when the term of DA Raul Torrez expires and he becomes attorney general. Torrez could appoint an interim DA who would keep the post until the governor made a decision, but is that good enough for the public suffering through a crime crisis and who seek strong leadership and a smooth transition? And what about the ten applicants whose names have been made public? Now they are looking like also rans as the Governor seeks more names, even though those who have applied appear qualified. The decision to extend seems flippant and could not come at a worse time. Where is the urgency on crime with this administration? 

Among the ten DA applicants whose names were released by the Governor was well-known trial attorney and former NM Dem Chairman Sam Bregman. (Mamma Mia!). Maybe it's time to call in Brian Colón who lost to Torrez for AG in the June primary and is another former Dem chairman. 

Also, three deputy DA's have applied to replace Torrez as well as former US Attorney Daymon Martinez. New applicants can email donicia.herrera@state.nm.us 

All kidding aside, for the Guv to still not have figured out who will be the top law enforcement figure in the ABQ metro is perplexing--but we're sure the criminal class gets it. 

BACK IN THE WEEDS

Senate seniority rule

Even though we know better we go back into the weeds of the state senate where chaos, factionalism and an overall bizarre atmosphere has taken hold. But go we must. So. . .

Is there a hard and fast "rule" that senate seniority determines the chairmanships of standing committees or is it only a "tradition" as we discussed Monday? Here is 9-1-4 of the Senate Rules:

Seniority of the members of the senate shall prevail at all times. Committee assignments and chairmen of committees shall be appointed by request of the senior members. All committeemen shall be placed on committee by rank of seniority. Should a vacancy occur, the next ranking member of the senate have priority on the requested committee. Seniority shall be governed by continuous service in the new Mexico senate. This rule can only be repealed or suspended by a three-fourths vote of the elected senate. (Enacted 1/17/89).

So does this mean that ABQ Sen. Linda Lopez, the member of the Senate Rules Committee with the most seniority, should be named chair of the committee instead of ABQ Sen. Katy Duhigg who was chosen by Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart and the Committees' Committee last week to replace chairman Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto? 

If that rule we quoted is still on the books, it would seem that way--if Lopez wants the job. But the full senate could simply suspend the rule before crowning Duhigg. We put the question to Pro Tem Stewart via email but did not hear back. She, too, could be lost in the weeds. . .

We corrected this error a couple of months ago but repeated it when we again relied on faulty info about the composition of the Rules Committee. In an early draft Monday we blogged that Sen. Duhigg is vice-chair of the committee. That's incorrect. The official legislative page has it right but we relied on an alternate source. Duhigg is vice-chair of Judiciary. Sen. Leo Jarmalillo is vice chair of Rules, according to the legislative site. We'll get it right, Katy, but we apparently need the luck of the Irish. . .

And for those wondering, the Senate's newbie--ABQ's Moe Maestas--was named to the Education and Health committees last week. Sen. Jacob Candelaria, who resigned the ABQ westside seat that Maestas was appointed to fill last month by the Bernalillo County Commission, was also on those committees. Maestas is 54 and hardly a "newbie" in politics, but we're invoking the Blog Seniority Rule today to say: 

Moe, we've got ties older than you. . . 

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2022