Independent Child Advocate Bill Now Approved By House And Senate By Huge Margins; Guv Has Threatened Veto But Votes To Override Appear To Be There, Plus: Voting Rights Action

Victoria Martens

“We have a crisis going on in New Mexico,” Sen. Crystal Diamond said. “We’re seeing the most horrific cases of child abuse in the nation."

Thankfully the New Mexican legislature is in full agreement. Both chambers have now passed bills--by huge margins--to have an independent child advocate help oversee the troubled and often failing Children, Youth and Families Department, prompting talk of overriding any veto that could come from Gov. Lujan Grisham.

The bill (SB 373) was blasted out of the state senate on a 30 to 8 vote Wednesday after a similar one passed the House 59-6. Those are veto-proof margins and a clear message to the second term Governor that it is time to walk back her opposition or else risk legislative and public opprobrium.

MLG narrowly avoided a veto override last year after she vetoed pork barrel projects for state legislators by reaching a compromise. But this is much bigger--the safety and well-being of children in a state that has seen some of the most gruesome child murders imaginable, including the 2019 murder of four year old James Dunklee Cruz, the 2017 torture-murder of 13 year old Jeremiah Valencia, the 2021 fentanyl death of 12 year old Brent Sullivan, the murder and dismemberment of 10 year old Victoria Martens and the beating death of Omaree Varela. 

Sen. Diamond and other sponsors of the child advocate bill could not overstate the horror even if they wanted to.  

The separate House and Senate bills will now have to be reconciled. With overwhelming support in the legislature and the public there is no need to water anything down. 

No doubt a bill will be sent to the Governor as a result of the high moral calling brought about by unspeakable child abuse this state has repeatedly been witness to. We trust she will sign the bill. How could she not?

VOTING RIGHTS 

SOS

The Voting Rights Act approved by the Senate Wednesday and previously approved by the House is not an "historic" bill as the interest groups paid to say such things assert, but it is a good bill and extends the progress our state is known for when it comes to ensuring access to the polls. As Sec. of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver puts it: 

 The Voting Rights Act builds on our state’s already established position as a national voting rights leader by further improving both voter access and election integrity. As federal voting bills are stymied in Congress and voting rights come under attack across the nation, states like New Mexico must step up to protect these rights. The New Mexico Voting Rights Act balances the demands for voter access with the needs of maintaining our high levels of election security.

Our libertarian streak took hold when it came to the provision to automatically register folks to vote when they deal with the MVD. But they can later opt out. And the declaration of a school holiday on Election Day we found unnecessary but minor. 

The Act's most important provision is a Native American Voting Rights Act to improve access to polls on tribal land. The Act also permits voters to sign up just once and then be mailed an absentee ballot before all elections. 

NUKE WASTE IN NM

Our coverage March 2 of a bill that seeks to prevent Holtec from opening a high-level nuclear waste storage site in SE NM (or anywhere else in the state) drew a response from the company. 

They say Las Cruces Dem Sen. Jeff Steinborn's legislation ((SB 53)--which has already passed the Senate as well as one House Committee--is an attempt to stop a "very good and safe project." 

Most New Mexicans recoil at the thought of such a site but in the interest of a free and open discussion

we run this argument from a company spokesman:

What Sen. Steinborn is trying to do is against federal law. Only the Feds can set the rules and regs for nuclear energy in the U.S., so while this may pass, it will end up in court because the state can’t do what Sen. Steinborn is proposing. 

He argues is that the state should give consent. They did, in this letter from then Gov. Martinez and a 2016 House Memorial 16 sponsored by Rep. Brown and then Rep. Garcia Richard (Los Alamos). The senate also passed a Memorial in 2016. 

With that letter and memorials, Holtec and the Eddy Lea Energy Alliance moved forward with the application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and have invested 8 years and over $80 million dollars to go through the very detailed process. The final environmental impact statement (FEIS) said the project would not harm the oil/gas industry, farming or ranching. 

The NRC staff recommended the Commissioners award the NRC license. A decision is expected at the end of the month and we expect approval. This project has support from the elected officials in SE New Mexico whose leaders have gone through a couple of election cycles and were re-elected with their platforms expressing support for Holtec. So  I guess the voters are okay.

Holtec also signed an agreement with the NM Building and Construction Trades Council to build the facility. Holtec also has agreements with the Hobbs Hispano Chamber and the Hobbs Chapter of the NAACP. Holtec plans to build a training center that will train workers to work in the storage industry and also build a manufacturing facility in the state. This is a great opportunity for New Mexico. 

We will point out that Martinez was a Republican Governor. Today we have a Dem Governor who is opposed to the site.

Also, arguing that in SE NM, "voters are okay" with the storage site negates that most voters in the state have said via polling that they are against high level nuclear waste being stored here. And transport of nuclear waste into the state--especially high level waste like expended nuclear fuel rods--is a statewide issue. 

This is the home of New Mexico politics.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2023