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On Wednesday night in Santa Fe, writers from The Independent mingled with dozens of guests gathered at Rio Chama for the first of four Independent Forum events. The Independent’s partner KNME was on hand to film a panel discussion of issues from the first two days of the legislative session, featuring Sen. Eric Griego (D-Albuquerque), Rep. Nora Espinoza (R-Roswell) and Richard Anklam of the New Mexico Tax Research Institute. Editor Gwyneth Doland guided the panel through a 30-minute conversation about proposed tax legislation, the state of the budget and domestic partnership.
Perhaps one of the more interesting points of the panel discussion came when Espinoza talked about how she would be open to supporting an expanded form of domestic partnership, if it included recognized other forms of loving relationships–and had another name.
Espinoza began:
We’re talking here about our loved ones, you know. That’s the issue, about our loved ones. Taking care of our loved ones. Well what about a mother–there’s a situation right now that I know of, it’s a mother and a daughter. Well, the daughter never married. The mother has gotten, you know, older. She has spent her life taking care of her mother. …Why not let them be able to [have a domestic partnership]?
Sen. Griego, an ardent supporter of domestic partnership, responded:
I would support that. I mean, I think . . . as human beings, we rely on each other, and whether that’s in a committed same-sex relationship or heterosexual relationship or a sibling relationship . . . I have the same example of folks, of a sister and a brother who have chosen to sort of mingle their finances and kind of take care of each other, and if we’re discriminating against them, I think that’s just as bad, and I would completely support us rewriting the tax code, the legal code, the health [code], whatever we need to do to be sure that two people who care about each other's well-being, regardless of what the nature of their relationship is, should be able to take care of each other and make decisions about the most basic issues for them--their health, whether or not or where they're buried, you know, and estate planning.
At that point, Espinoza interrupted:
We're pretty much saying the same thing, without removing that basic foundation of marriage. It's just giving the right to take care of their loved ones. Presently, it is very, very clear in this state, you have that right. The only place, of course, you don't have that right is in taxes, and [other] issues of that level . . . If our concern is that we want rights for our loved ones--not who we choose to have intimacy [with]--but I'm talking about our loved ones. ...If we're saying, I'm taking care of my father, I live with my father, our finances, just like Senator said, are comingled, you know, and we have the right to file [taxes] jointly and be able to get some tax breaks and things like that, then why not?
Asked if she would support domestic partnership legislation if it were open to related family members, Espinoza responded:
Espinoza said, "Ok I think I would...under another title. Because I think what we're saying is, we're wanting rights for everyone, not rights to undermine [the definition of marriage.] When we're talking about domestic partnership and marriage, it's almost like correlating... .
Asked what name she would prefer, if not "domestic partnership," Espinoza said she hadn't thought of another name yet.
The event attracted a wide variety of political animals, including Lucky Varela, Chairman of the Legislative Finance Committee; Rod Adair, R-Roswell; Carter Bundy, political action representative of AFSCME and contributor to the online Independent Forum. You can watch archived video here.
The New Mexico Independent will be hosting three more Independent Forum events during the legislative session on Jan. 27, Feb. 3 and Feb. 10 from 5-8 PM at Rio Chama. The events are free and open to the public. Join us!
