A legislative update from Piñon Post founder and editor and state Rep. John Block (R-Alamogordo). John gives a weekly update during the legislative session. If you don’t already get the update, you can get it here or by subscribing on the website JohnForNM.com.
This week has been another wild one at the Roundhouse. Here’s what happened:
To watch my summary of what happened this week, please click here or on the thumbnail below, and you can follow along in the video with the below information:
On Monday, in the House Government, Elections, and Indian Affairs Committee (HGEIAC), I voted against an extremist resolution (H.J.R. 3), also known as the “Gren Amendment. ” The bill would make cities and counties liable and open to lawsuits if anyone perceives air or water as not being “clean. ” According to the bill’s fiscal impact report, the state and localities could be exposed to up to $1.6 billion in frivolous litigation.
On Tuesday, in the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee (HCPAC), the committee voted unanimously to pass H.B. 73, which removes statutes of limitations on child sexual abuse civil cases, and H.B. 83, which increases penalties for sex trafficking (and increases ages in the statutes from 16 to 18 to ensure kids up to 18 are protected). I voted against H.B. 89, which lets illegal immigrants get graduate-level scholarships at UNM. A bill sponsored by myself and Rep. Stefani Lord (R-Sandia Park) to institute Constitutional Carry was tabled on a 4-2 vote without discussion from the Democrats on the committee.
On Wednesday, Democrats passed through HGEIAC H.B. 98, which automatically expunges eviction records after five years (which will give landlords less information, especially if the eviction was due to violence, damage, or other grave circumstances), and H.B. 108, establishing “the Statewide Public Health and Climate Program within the Department of Health,” both of which I opposed.
On Thursday, Rep. Lord and I helped pass bills through HCPAC to give police officers equal rights as civilians (H.B. 103) and allow law enforcement to carry firearms at polling places (H.B. 101).
On Friday, in HGEIAC, H.B. 16, to implement “increased sentencing for individuals convicted of trafficking controlled substances under Section 30-31-20 NMSA 1978 when the offense involves fentanyl,” passed the committee despite three Democrats opposing the measure.
On Saturday, I bounced between my two committees (which were inconveniently meeting at the same time). Democrats killed bills in HCPAC to increase penalties for drug traffickers (H.B. 107), including resulting in death from trafficked drugs and adding “fentanyl to methamphetamine, where now knowing or intentional exposure to either of these two drugs [to children] would represent prima facie evidence of child abuse” (H.B. 136).
In HGEIAC on that day, Democrats passed H.J.R. 5, which changes the Children, Youth, and Families Department to a commission under the governor and legislative branches, but it does not equally distribute representation, so I voted against it. Another bill I voted against in that committee was H.B. 6, which forces a “prevailing wage” on projects done through industrial revenue bonds (IRBs), which would skyrocket the cost of these projects (which are funded by private dollars anyway).
The week ahead will be very eventful in my committees, with lots of bad bills scheduled for the upcoming week. And nightly floor sessions are also scheduled to begin hearing legislation on the floor, so please be on the alert for those as well.
Here are the legislative items that will come to the committees I am a member of:
To see all committee schedules for all committees and the House/Senate floors, click here.
Click here to see the latest committee calendar, which includes Zoom links to testify.
To access all of my proposed legislation and the status of each bill, please click here.
It is an honor to represent Alamogordo in the Legislature. I will fight to protect our constitutional rights with every fiber of my being. You can always count on me to support our shared conservative American values.
God bless you,
John
Rep. John Block
NM House District 51
Republican, Otero County
Thank you John for keeping up whatever good work you can do in a captured Democrat system!
John, would you do an article on how no federal funding to NM due to sanctuary status ? KOAT did a story hoe it will affect low income food…….