Walt Rubel Commentary: Special sessions show flaws in system

A recent town hall meeting in Las Cruces hosted by the Foundation for Open Government focused on the need for greater transparency at the Legislature during the budget-making process.

There is, perhaps, no process at the Legislature that is more secretive and less transparent than the special session about to begin on Thursday, July 18. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham wants legislation passed dealing with panhandling, criminal defendants judged to be incompetent to stand trial and felons in possession of guns.

Ideally, from her standpoint, all three issues will have been worked out in closed-door meetings, and legislators will rubber stamp their approval. But that’s not how it usually works,

All three bills were introduced in this year’s regular 30-day session. The panhandling bill never got a committee hearing. The competency bill was amended and passed through one committee, but died in the second. The felon in possession bill was also passed over in its first committee.

Clearly, none of those bills were a top priority for the Legislature. We won’t know until they are introduced what changes, if any, have been made to make them more palatable this time around.

But we do know that the success rate for special sessions is mixed, at best. And for good reason.

The governor was able to use a special session to pass legislation legalizing cannabis, but that came after several years of hearings on the topic. This year she is attempting to pass a much more diverse set of new laws, without nearly as much prior date. And, she will have different supporters and opponents for each.

Republicans are likely to agree with her on the panhandling and competency laws, but will fight tooth and nail against any law to increase penalties for possession of a gun. We will soon see if the governor has been able to move reluctant Democrats who don’t see law enforcement as the solution to a panhandling problem that stems from homelessness and poverty.

While there is likely general agreement on the competency issue, a recent community radio interview with state Supreme Court Justice Brianna Zamora convinced me that the issue is more complicated than I had appreciated. 

Legislators come into a special session with different priorities, based on their party affiliation and political beliefs. But there is one goal they all share - getting to sine die and going back home as soon as possible.

It’s one more example of the many inadequacies built into our legislative structure. All of these issues could have been addressed in the regular session if lawmakers had more than 30 days to meet. 

Our unpaid legislators know they have to take time away from their paying jobs to attend the regular session each year. But they don’t plan for a special session. That means an unexpected loss of revenue for as long as they are away.

The governor’s impatience is understandable given that she only has two more regular sessions to go. We will soon find out if legislators share her sense of urgency.


Walter Rubel can be reached at [email protected]

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