Thursday, March 16, 2023No Salaries And No Full-Time For Legislators This Time And That's Fine With Voters, Plus: The Pirtle Affair; More Details And What Needs To Happen Next, Also: Booze Tax Update And A Pandemic Book Catches Flak
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Munoz read the room correctly and has basically pronounced the constitutional amendment to do just that dead for this session. The drive for a full-time legislature also fell flat. Why, voters ask, in a state that has experienced essentially no population growth in a decade do we need to increase legislators hours? The Legislature did do their most important duty of the session--sending a state budget to the Governor as they headed for a Saturday adjournment. That could only be interrupted if MLG gets ornery and calls a special session. (Please don't. The state has had enough for a while.) That budget is the largest ever with a nearly 14 percent increase, coming in at $9.6 billion but still tucking away a reserve of 30 percent in case of an oil crash. In the latest bull move oil peaked at $121 a barrel in June and this week fell below $70 a barrel. There is cause for concern but the price is still healthy for the drillers in the SE NM Permian Basin and with other reserve funds packed to the gills, the budget should be able to pass any oil price tests that arise. There was much ado about much of everything in Santa Fe the past two months, but in the end it is that budget that will have the most impact of any legislation approved and for which the session will likely be most remembered. Well, and Cliff Pirtle. . . THE PIRTLE AFFAIR
Joe,
What I find most amusing about this Pirtle "scandal" is that he is always spouting off in committee about family values and how, being married to an Hispanic woman, he understands Hispanics. As we blogged Tuesday, the public's point of interest is if the "other woman" is affiliated with the state legislature--meaning an employee--which would make an affair more than a simple moral infraction. (Lapel camera video of Pirtle and sheriff's deputy here.) WHO IS SHE? The rumor mill now is centered on the narrative that Pirtle, 37, was bedding a young staffer from rural New Mexico who works in another Senator's office. That would be a serious ethics violation and demands an investigation by the Ethics Commission, the commission that progressives for years clamored to establish. Reader Arcy Baca aptly asks:  Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart and her colleagues need to get a Pirtle probe up and running. Pirtle could do his constituents and the state a favor by coming clean on the details of the scandal and then resigning his seat. Where is the Senate GOP leadership on that proposition? Watching Jimmy Swaggart reruns? Maybe if they hadn't needlessly kicked Sen. Stuart Ingle out as their Minority Leader there would be someone with enough huevos (and stature) to tell Pirtle that it's time to go. REPLACING PIRTLE
If Pirtle does call it quits, the name of GOP Roswell Rep. Candy Ezzell pops to the surface as a possible replacement. Said one of the Roundhouse Gators: She's been in the Legislature since 2005, is s a rock-ribbed conservative and smart. She would be a natural replacement. The county commissions from Chaves, Eddy and Otero--the three counties that contain Pirtle's district--would each recommend a replacement if Pirtle resigns, with the Governor making the final choice. Finally, how about this. The Roswell Daily Record, the hometown paper of Pirtle, doesn't even carry the story. Not a peep about Pirtle's behavior from them or his interaction with law enforcement. Yeah, tell the blogger all about journalism, boys. What a joke. LIQUOR TAX UPDATE ABQ Dem state Senator Antoinette Sedillo Lopez is kicking herself over the legislature's failure to enact a quarter a drink tax on alcoholic beverages in the state with the worst rate of booze abuse in the nation. But she shouldn't be. The Senate tax committee Wednesday approved a bill that would raise the tax by five cent a drinks which still had the lobbyists choking back tears. Whether that survives to final passage in the hectic last days of the session is another question. The increase would cut the rate of drinking, according to experts, by 1.8 percent and would be the first hike in the alcohol tax in decades. Would it be best for Sedillo Lopez and Rep. Joanne Ferrary to throw in the towel on any increase now and come back next year with guns blazing? Maybe. If the liquor lobby swallows that tiny increase they will argue next year that they are being targeted. Or would the small-sized increase pave the way for more? A tough call. JOURNAL WATCH  Hi Mr. Monahan,
Just read your piece on the blog discussing the future of the Journal and whether or not it remains in private ownership.
I've been a digital Journal subscriber since moving back to the state in late 2017. I recall the days when the Journal had many more sections, pages and ads as well. It is not surprising to see the paper shrink, and the economics of the newspaper industry are reflected in that. I honestly don't care much who owns the Journal as long as they continue to cover local and state news because there is no other paper (other than the New Mexican) which is doing that here. However, if the Journal starts replacing local/state coverage with wire stories, or if they sell to a terrible chain like Gannett, I'll drop it like a bad habit!
Until then, I'll remain a Journal subscriber because I believe it is important to support local journalism where it still exists. And one other note from the ink-stained world, the 538 site has updated their national pollster rankings to include the 2022 election. Research and Polling, the Journal's longtime pollster, went from a grade of A to A+, just one of four pollsters in the nation to achieve that grade out of several hundred. PANDEMIC HISTORY  The Albuquerque Museum Third Thursday on March 16 includes a conversation with Joline Gutierrez Krueger, author of City at the Crossroads: The Pandemic, Protests, and Public Service in Albuquerque. The conversation, hosted by Dr. Shelle Sanchez, director of the Department of Arts & Culture, will begin at 6 p.m. in the museum's auditorium. The talk coincides with the third anniversary of New Mexico's shutdown related to the global pandemic. Krueger's nonfiction account covers the city’s response to emergency management in an unprecedented time. In addition to COVID-19, social unrest is front-and-center in the book. There's been some controversy about the book, with ABQ City Councilor Louis Sanchez asking the attorney general to investigate: (The book) includes nearly 50 pictures of Mayor Keller and his
family. . .I do not think spending nearly a hundred thousand dollars of
taxpayer money to pay a journalist and publish a book, which appears to be a marketing device
regarding the Mayor’s response to COVID, is appropriate or legal. If one searches
for the “book” online, it is being sold at multiple retailers for profit. It is my understanding sales
of the book are being handled by The One Albuquerque Fund which some accuse of functioning as
a Political Action Committee (PAC) for Mayor Keller. . . The book does show much love for Keller and company but we found it informative and insightful and think future city residents will also. THE BOTTOM LINES
Regarding the $5.1 million capital outlay for the Regional Sports Complex at Mesa Del Sol. David Campbell works for Steve Chavez and the Mesa del Sol company. They have nothing to do with the Regional Sports Complex on Bernalillo County Land stretching from the Isleta Pavillon to Bobby Foster road. The Bernalillo County Youth Sports Commission in conjunction with (other county offices) has orchestrated a 31 multi-use field project to serve our community's local youth sports teams. . .When completed the project will improve outdoor sports. . .for individuals to use in our community. Geez, kids. We went into overtime today. Hope you enjoyed it. 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 2023 |
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